I'm Never Quite There
by Forced Smile
Summary: Demyx is never quite there, always day-dreaming. Finding sactuary in his MP3 player. But what happens when he meets a mysterious stranger who seems to have the same thoughts? AU. Highschool. Zemyx. Riso. Hints of AkuRoku.
1. Introductions

Disclaimer: I don't own them. Sadly. D: (Wow that was uncreative…)

Author's Note: OH GOD. I worked on this like a DOG! So, at 6092 words, I end Chapter One! At… 3:15! This is EASILY the longest thing I have EVER written, and my first chapter story, ever. I mean, I attempted once, but… it didn't work! So!

Read and Review!

Dedicated to Pira, (Pira the Sarcastic, CHECK HER OUT! SHE'S AWESOME.) who is responsible for my love of this couple AND the entire fic. Giving me these words to work with:

Song:

What I Go to School For- Busted

And

Bored.

Also, Australian, Chemistry Teacher Xaldin? Sexy.

**Never Quite There**

**Chapter 1**

**--**

"Get your ass to class, kid."

"Eventually."

"What was that?"

"You heard me, Xigbar."

"Professor. I also heard the bell, and I'll hear you when you walk in to detention Monday."

"…Shit."

"And take off those damn earphones."

Sighing, the mullet-ed teen unplugged his MP3 player and shoved it in his pocket and strolled down the hall to class. (Which he was already ten minutes late for. Perfect.) The halls were empty (Albeit the graying teacher walking back to his respected teaching space) and that was just how he liked it. Quiet, nobody to bug him, just him and the space he was forced to be in for a full six and a half hours. He could just walk, by himself, hear his footsteps echo off the empty halls. Maybe once and a while, glare at the passing kid rude enough to interrupt his only time alone in the educational hell-hole, and this was exactly what he did. Every fourth period, he didn't care about the five minutes in between periods, it was as long as he wanted it, and he wanted it late. When the faceless teenagers were hurrying to class, he was smirking and passing them by, drowning out their complaints with his MP3 player, him and whatever band played.

Yet here he was, walking to class, ten minutes late, ready to get whatever lecture came his way, he hated it when he was caught. He easily drowned out his Mrs. Aerith's squawking, and took his assigned seat at the back, before taking his MP3 player out of his pocket again and replacing it on his head, letting the music drown out the unnecessary lesson being taught at the front, and slipped into a daydream.

"Class dismissed!" The teenagers filling the room let loose a group sigh, and shuffled out of the classroom to the next class, along with the blonde who yawned and made his way out. He dodged kids left and right, shoving an unfortunate freshman out of his path who scurried away, his books and papers still cluttered on the linoleum. Smirking, he made his way to his locker, and let the day pass in a haze, as it usually did. He then grabbed his backpack, and made his way home, ready to eat, do his homework, watch T.V., sleep, and let the cycle repeat all over again.

____________6/9____________

"I'm home! How was your day sweetie?"

"Hey Mom." replied the unenthusiastic voice of the previously alone teenager, staring at the T.V., lounging on the couch in the "family" room, it was more his room, his family, meaning his mom, was barely home. "How was work?"

"You don't care."

"Nope."

Snickering, the bleach blonde woman dropped her keys on the front table, then made her entrance into the "family" room, and promptly sat next to her son.

"What'd you do at school?"

"Nothing interesting." he replied dully, flipping through the channels. It was silent for a few moments, he then heard his mom sigh, and felt her weight lift off the couch. He heard her steps fade, then heard her make her way upstairs, not sparing her a glance once.

His ears twitched as the sound of the phone interrupted his train of thought, sighing and rising, he picked the phone off the receiver and brought the phone to his ear.

"Hello?" he started, his voice monotone.

"Hey!"

"Hey, Axel! What's up?" he replied, his lips curving into a smile.

"Hey man, we're heading to the movies, you comin'?" replied said teen.

"Let me guess, 'Thank God It's Friday' night?"

"Movies, T.G.I. Fridays, the usual. You in or what?"

"Who's going?"

"Whoever's there when we arrive, meet me at the movies with cash." said the red-haired teen on the other line before hanging up and letting the dial tone begin. Sighing, the teen made his way out the door, not bothering to tell the only other living thing in the household he was leaving, and got in the door of his black Ford Escape, put the keys in the ignition and brought the car to life.

____________6/9____________

"Axel!" he called across the parking lot towards the red--head, jogging up. "So," he started, running his hand through his hair absent-mindedly, "Who else ca- HOLY SHIT, what's on your face?!" he shouted in surprise, taking a few steps back and squinting at the red, to see if what he saw was actually there.

"WHAT?!" the other shouted, smacking and wiping at his cheeks. "WHAT IS IT?! KILL IT!!! KILL IT!!!" Axel panicked, squeezing his eyes closed.

"What's with the tattoos man?! On your face?!" he questioned, wiping his eyes. The red head blinked a few times, before groaning and rubbing his face.

"I just got them alright, sheesh, they don't look THAT bad." he grumbled, running his hands through his hair, sticking back like a porcupine, wild and red, flame red. The tattoos were black, and resembled tear-drops. "Besides, they're… unique."

"You look like a talking mime."

"SHUT UP!" Snickering, the teen looked around at the other people surrounding him.

"Roxas, Marluxia, Riku, Sora." he nodded in recognition to the others. Others doing the same or muttering a greeting of sorts. "So, movie? What are we seeing, or are we planning on loitering the entire night?"

"I think," started Roxas, the shortest one in the group started, his hair was blonde, his twin Sora next to him, Riku on Sora's other side, and tapped his chin in thought, " We should see… Love, Peace, Party." he nodded, grinning at the group. "It's like, a comedy or something, heard it was good." he shrugged, waiting for the rest of the group to throw their two cents in.

"Sounds good."

"Sure."

"Why not?"

"'Kay. What about you Demyx?"

The mullet-ed blonde glanced up from the ground, he'd been drowning out the conversation as soon as he had started it, to stare back at his friends currently looking at him expectantly. "I don't care."

"Alright! Next showing is…" Roxas trailed off, squinting at the movie board through the glass "Ten minutes, we got lucky." he nodded to himself, and followed after the group as they made their way inside and to the ticket counter.

____________6/9____________

"Roxas?"

"Yeah, Axel?"

"What's happening?"

"Shut up, guys." Demyx nudged Axel in the side with his elbow, who did the same, and returned back to the conversation.

"What's happening?" he repeated to the blonde.

"Well… the movie's ending." Roxas concluded, as the lights snapped back on and the credits began to roll across the screen. Dumbfounded, Axel scowled at the screen.

"Well, that was really, really stupid. I mean, I didn't get that movie at all."

"You fell asleep." Riku noted, standing from his seat. Axel ignored him.

"Horrible movie choice Roxy. Next ti-OW!" Axel yelped, holding his side as it bruised, Roxas sliding past him as if nothing happened. "WHAT THE HELL ROXAS?" Axel shouted, drawing in the attention of leaving old couples and pre-teens.

"I don't know what you're talking about." the blonde said calmly. Snickering, Demyx whispered to Roxas as he passed.

"Nice punch." he laughed, as a smirk found it's way onto Roxas's face.

The group shuffled out of their seats, (Axel still clutching his aching side) and made their way outside. The group agreeing on meeting at T.G.I.'s and making their way to their respected vehicles.

Half-way through the meal, and Demyx still hadn't really heard one word any of his friends had said. Of course, he got the gist of what the current debate was concerning, Mrs. Lockhart, and how much of a bitch she was, but how the fact remained her boobs were colossal, but he couldn't care less about what was happening around him.

Demyx, he was noticing the more simple things that the chortling others were ignoring. For instance, the ocean the restaurant was built upon. The seagulls squawking above. The simpler things.

He liked things simple. For example, water. Water was simple. Not like juice, no, juice was not simple. Water, yes, water was simple. Clear, tasteless, required. Simple to understand.

Wait, what?

"Oi, Demyx where you going?" Axel sputtered, looking up at the now standing blonde boy.

"Um, I'm going for a walk." he replied easily, squeezing past the back of Axel's seat, and the fat man sitting behind him, and making his way down the pier. He placed the ear phones back onto his ears, and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his wool, gray sweatshirt with the word "Oblivion" blazing across the front, his favorite band. He led his way down the pier to his favorite bench, and plopped himself down, laying his head back, he sighed in contentment and closed his eyes, letting the salty wind blow on his face. This spot had been his private thinking spot since he discovered the sanctuary. Each time he came to T.G.I. Fridays, he left the table at one point or another to sit out on the dock and think.

'God, it's nice out here.' he smiled to himself in thought, 'This place never ceases to amaze me.'

_________________________________________________________________________________

"Dad! It's so pretty out here!" shouted a much younger Demyx, grin plastered on his face, perched on his father's lap.

"Isn't it Demyx? Do you see the birds? They're called seagulls." his father said, a soft smile gracing his aged face. "They're very pretty aren't they?" Demyx nodded his head,, extending one arm towards the sky. The wash of waves against the side of the walls and cry of seagulls was euphonious.

"Dad, the ocean's really cool. Can I live in there one day?" Demyx asked, his voice innocent, he gazed up at his father with blue eyes. His father chuckled, looking down at his son.

"Who knows, maybe one day." he beamed at his sun, who returned the favor, and returned his attention to the ocean.

"Dad?" the youngster asked sometime later.

"Yes, Demyx?"

"Come on." he beamed, exuberant, pulling his dad to his feet by his fingers.

"Where are w- DEMYX N-!!!" he was cut off suddenly by the water rushing up around him, his son's hand still in his own. He resurfaced, as did his son, panting. "Demyx are you insane?" he'd meant his tone to be angry, but instead it popped up and octave in the humor he found in the situation. Demyx's hair was flopped down over his face, Demyx bubbling in glee, his laughter strong. His dad soon joined in, and they climbed back up onto the deck, still chuckling.

The duo were still chuckling went the sun went down almost an hour later.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Demyx sat there, basking in his nostalgia. Thirty minutes later, he was still lounging there. His focus on the spot the memory had taken place, on the empty bench half beside him. And he could have stayed there for another few hours too, just reminiscing, if his vibrating phone hadn't practically given him a stroke. After taking a deep breath, blinking a few times to make the trip from past to present complete, he swiftly pulled his cell phone from his pocket and read the text message flashing on his screen.

Sighing, he got up from the bench, and made his way back to his car, where his friends were waiting, talking amongst themselves.

"The fuck were you?" Axel scolded, whirling towards the blonde.

"Where I usually am?" he chuckled nervously, running his hand through his hair.

"Being…?"

Chuckling, the pink haired one in the circle of friends stepped forward. Shoving Axel out of Demyx's face lightly. "You sound like a mom, tear-drop face."

"Shut up Marluxia." grumbled said "tear-drop face". "Come on Roxas, let's go play Halo." he grinned, grabbing the short-blonde around his shoulders and tugging him off to his car, the blonde's face turning a few shades more red then his usual pasty skin tone.

Smiling, Riku, Sora, and Marluxia said their goodbyes and walked back to their cars, ready to repeat their own cycles over again the next day, as was Demyx.

____________6/9____________

"Welcome to detention you little shit." Professor Xigbar greeted kindly from his seat, not bothering to look up from his newspaper., "Take your seat, no talking, you do and I see you tomorrow. Good? Good."

Demyx grunted from the doorway and quickly took his seat, not bothering to take off his head-phones. "I hate waking up earlier then needed." he sighed, tapping his black painted nails against the desk top rhythmically. Doodling on his Math homework. He texted under his desk, whispered to surrounding offenders, and did anything but, well, what people in detention would do. Xigbar looked up from his newspaper rarely, and when he did, no one cared, as long as he was getting paid, and following the rules to an extent, he was absolutely fine. Dandy. Sighing in relief, Demyx rose from his seat as the first bell of three rang, allowing him permission to wander the halls until first period, meaning fifteen minutes from then. He stretched a bit, cracking his fingers and back. Twisting his neck, content as it creaked and became more loose.

"Remember, you little over-achievers, when I'm with you, I'm not by myself. I don't like that, so keep your records clean, alright? Now get out of my sight." Most people already had before he had stopped talking. Removing his headphones, Demyx fled the room, doing a mental dance at the success of surviving yet another detention from wandering the halls at fourth period. What was this… the fifth time this has happened?

After escaping the confines of the detention hall, Demyx made his way to the courtyard for ten minutes, _Maybe I'll catch up on some sleep_. he smiled to himself, sitting himself on a bench outside the back school doors.

Demyx noted, as he allowed his eyelids to ease down after a few minutes, the slight breeze and cloudy sky. Rain. Probably on his way home. Rain. "Gross." Demyx muttered to himself, rain was not fun.

"…Excuse me?" came a hesitant voice, Demyx noticed the tapping in the background had stopped. Opening his eyes, Demyx peered to his right, where on the same bench, was a slate-haired teen, with a laptop perched on his knees. "Did you say something?" he repeated, his voice was bored and polite, like he really shouldn't have troubled himself to even ask.

"Uh…not really." Demyx stared back at the teen, raising and eyebrow, and straightening his posture. "Sorry," he mumbled, "I'm just not a really big fan of rain."

"Hm." the teen replied, voice still bored, his gaze returning to the laptop. "I suppose. The air does get stuffy, uncomfortable, not very desirable." His gaze remained on the screen, not bothering to look up when replying.

Demyx had seen his face before, that was no doubt, he just needed to place a face with a place. Slate-blue hair … bored expression … icy blue eyes … _Hmph._

"I guess. But that's not really what gets me." Demyx replied, expecting some sort of reaction, when none came, he continued. "I guess it's the thunder. The hard crash rattles my ears, keeps me awake, makes me feel like something bad's going to happen." Demyx shivered, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the slate-haired boy glance up from his laptop. "Just, it always happens first in horror movies yan'no? Then someone gets murdered and it all becomes one big mess." He didn't bother mentioning what else rain reminded him of. The teen sitting beside him elicited a small snort, before closing his laptop with a snap and standing.

"I suppose. Good day." said the teen, standing and parting with a nod towards the entrance to the school, no sooner did he enter the school did the second bell ring, signaling all procrastinating delinquents to enter the building and get to their classes.

Demyx drove home in heavy rain. That night, he hid his head under a pillow, blocking the sound, brief flashes of lightening, and memories from his mind's eye, and was unsuccessful in blocking all three, as the rain poured through the entire, restless night.

____________6/9____________

"Mom?! I'm on my way to school!" Demyx didn't expect a reply, but called out anyway, just incase. He hopped off the front step and made his way to his Escape. Climbing in the front seat, toast hanging from his mouth, Demyx backed out of the driveway, music blasting from the car speakers. Tuesdays were the worst. It felt like the fact you had school yesterday wasn't enough so they threw an extra four days at you, and everyone was always in a bad mood.

This was easy to observe, because only seconds after he arrived at the school's side entrance, he spotted Axel, smoking as he often did on Tuesday mornings..

"Tuesday?'

"Yup." Axel grunted, inhaling deeply, and puffing the smoke out in an angry little cloud. Smirking, Demyx grabbed the cigarette and threw it on the ground, squishing it beneath his foot.

"You know what happened last time." Demyx stated, poking the red-headed teen on the forehead, who swatted his hand away angrily.

"THEY TOTALLY OVER REACTED! I mean, Professor Squall smokes, I don't see why we can't. Suspension equals over reaction." Axel nodded, tapping his pointer finger to his temple. "Commit it to memory, my dear…Demy."

Laughing, Demyx grabbed the red-head by his collar and dragged him into the school hallway, the clock told a tale of ten minutes until the third bell. "What did you do last night?" Demyx didn't care.

"You don't care."

"Nope."

Smirking, the red-head and blonde fell in step, Axel telling every detail of the previous night's history. Demyx observed the passing faces, counting off people he knew on his mental fingers. 'Sora, Riku, Selphie, Rikku, …" Demyx noticed a slate haired head stroll by, but it was soon covered by 6,8, rusty haired, giant. He strained a bit in the opposite direction to get a better view, but to no avail.

"Hmph." Demyx mumbled to himself, shrugging it off. It didn't really matter, not like he would ever talk to that guy again.

"Demyx…? You ok?" Axel glanced curiously at his friend, eyebrows furrowed in concern. Demyx almost heard a mental pop go off as he snapped back to the "here and now."

"Yah, I'm fine, just… tired I guess." Demyx sighed, staging a yawn, then rubbing at his eyes as if rubbing away the sleep. "Tuesday."

"Tuesday." Axel sighed in agreement. The second bell rang, signaling five minutes until first bell, which signaled class itself. The two slapped hands and parted ways, heading towards their own classes yet again.

When he arrived at class, books in hand, he found his seat and quickly took it, waiting for Professor Luxord to make his entrance. And shout out to the class like every other day…

"Welcome back." he smiled, voice heavy with a British accent, ran his hand through his clean cut, platinum blonde hair like every other day, then turned to face the board, while the rest of the class mimicked the previous actions in whispers, snickering to themselves. "Literature…"

Demyx pretty much dozed off on his desk right there.

____________6/9____________

"Demyx." the blonde British man spoke, shaking the shoulder of said teen. "Demyx, wake up." the blonde teen now lay very much asleep on his workbook, the classroom empty, minus the two, with the teacher hovering over his student, who drooled a puddle.

Groggily, Demyx opened his eyes, and quickly realized the situation. "Holy crap." Suddenly he stood from his seat, head-butting his teacher on the way up. Luxord's tooth pierced his lip, and bruised Demyx's cranium, killing some skin and allowing blood to flow freely from both wounds wound. The sharp pain throbbing in Demyx's head and the sharp cry of pain emitted from the Professor forced his eyes up from the textbook he was working on picking up from his desk, which he just dropped again, after meeting with the sight of blood dripping from his Professor's mouth, who's face was set in a disapproving glare.

"Geez! You okay?" he managed to squeak out to Luxord, rubbing at the aching area on his head, which he felt swelling, wet beneath his fingertips. Said man only glared, before shoving two detentions in the teenagers face and rushing out of the room, most likely to find a tissue, Demyx guessed. The blood trail left behind was thick and red, hinting at a deep cut. Nasty. Cursing, Demyx gathered his things and shuffled away from the desk, stepping around the blood as he left the room.

"It's a Tuesday, my head hurts, and I have two detentions for tomorrow and the day after." he commented coldly to himself. "And it's only second period." he groaned, kicking a trash can over on his way to his locker. "Perfect. Absolutely wonderful."

"Hey Demyx."

"HEY DEMYX!"

The two greetings coming from not far head signaled Riku and Sora were waiting for him, as they often did after first periods end.

"Hey, what's up?" Sora started, as Demyx came to a halt. I have to tell you what happened just now. Alright,solikeyouknowProfessorLuxordeveryonesawhimrunningdownthehallbleedingandstuffsoeveryonethinkshegotpunchedorsomething. Isn'tthatcoolDemyx? Isn'tit? I mean-" Sora spoke too quickly for Demyx to comprehend, so Demyx just decided to resume his walking, Riku followed, with a grunt as Sora groaned and trailed behind. "I mean really Demyx how come you always stop listening, shake your head and walk away, it's totally not nice of you. Rude." Sora mumbled, pouting at his checkered shoes.

"You're such a baby Sora." Riku snickered, eyes still set in front of him.

"Am not!"

"Point proven." Riku concluded with a smirk. A few un-intellectual sputter-ings later and Sora stormed off the other way, leaving the silverette and blonde to fall into step. "So, what's up?" Riku asked, running a hand through his abnormally long hair, boredom lacing his voice.

Groaning, Demyx held out the yellow slips of paper for the other boy's inspection,. Grabbing the pieces of paper, the silver haired boy read them over, then handed them back, eyebrows rising in surprise. "Two detentions? Seriously? Christ, Demyx, what'd you do, it's not even second period yet?!" Riku asked, astonished. "What is this, the seventh time this month you've gotten detentions?! Jeez, get yourself together Demy-Dippity-Doo. Last time I checked, detentions were NOT a good thing. I mean-"

"Shut up Riku. I don't need a lecture okay. Seriously." Demyx interrupted with a snarl shoving the teen into a passing freshman, who tumbled over easily beneath Riku's weight. The teen looked up at him from atop the freshman, his eyebrows furrowed in silent concern. "I mean for fuck's sake, it's TUESDAY." Demyx groaned, rubbing his temples in frustration, before sighing and offering his friend a hand.

"Didn't need to shove me onto a kid. Over-react much?"

"…Sorry. Just… It's Tuesday." the blonde replied, shrugging his shoulders, slight blush dusting his cheeks.

"Hmph, right." Riku snickered, heading off in the opposite direction to class. Demyx following suit.

"I fucking hate Tuesdays." The teenager gathering his spilled papers, and rubbing absent mindedly on the developing bruise on his arm, on the ground agreed whole-heartedly.

____________6/9____________

"…Shit, Demyx, you were in here a day ago, , and you'll be here tomorrow, get your act together, man." Professor Xigbar sighed and rose from his seat, massaging the bridge of his nose in between his pointer finger and thumb.

"… Look man that's three detentions this week, I can't overlook that. Jeez…" he mumbled, grabbing Demyx by the shoulder. "Calling your mom."

Demyx gaped back at the older man, who stared back just as intensely… as a man missing his left eye could manage. "That's not fair!" he whined, stomping his feet. "THIS SUCKS!"

"Damn straight it does, now sit down while I write the stupid waver." Demyx pouted, his eyebrows furrowed, giving him an image much like one of a begging puppy, before making his way sluggishly back to his seat.

Detention passed slowly, the clock taking it's fair time moving it's hands from 7:00-8:45. Demyx fidgeted continuously, tapping his fingers, kicking the desk, eyes focused on the clock as it ticked by second by agonizingly slow second. "Hurry up." he groaned, banging his head on the desk a few times. "Let me out of this god-forsaken, pit of anguish."

"Stop whining, Demyx!" Xigbar shouted across the room, voice cross, eyes trained on the newspaper in front of him. Kids whirled around to Demyx, giving him puzzled looks. They hadn't heard _anything_. "I'm the God damn Batman, I hear and see everything, now turn around and shut up." he continued, not looking up once. Kids turned back to their seats, still deeply confused, Xigbar slipped a smirk onto his scarred face. Groaning, Demyx buried his face in his arms. "RING, RING, RING, RING." he mumbled into his arms. "RINGRINGRINGRINGRINGFUCKINGRING." Another ten minutes passed before the metal contraption went insane, relieving the class from their torture.

Twisting around the hallways he made his way to the back garden and collapsed on the closest bench his peripheral vision could find in as he stomped through the pathway, surrounded by waves of color. Nearby, he could see his friend Marluxia, Garden Club captain, tending to a patch of what resembled tulips before he let his eyes slide closed, releasing a heavy sigh.

"You're sitting on my folder" Opening his eyes, he scouted out who owned the quiet voice. "Right here." Whipping his head around, he found the gaze of the same teen who'd he met in this exact spot. Was the guy really so quiet he hadn't even noticed his presence? He was clutching a large, black book, and he inspected him through one eye, the other covered completely by his slate hair. "Oh, you, survived the rain I see. Did you fare well? Or did the impending doom get the better of you?"

Demyx jumped a little, and pulled the folder out from beneath him, handing it to the other teen. He blinked a few times, contemplating the teen who stared back with a bored look on his face. He raised an eyebrow after a few seconds, obviously expecting an answer. "Oh! I guess I did." he chuckled awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head. "Cowered a bit, of course, but I guess I did."

"I see." he stated dully, re-opening his book, and sifting through the pages until he found a page, marked by tassel. Curiously, Demyx scooted over and peered into the book, gasping at the sight.

"I can't even read the words! They're freakin' tiny!" he exclaimed, squinting to make better sense of the jumble of unknown letters. "Do you, like, have Superman's eyes or something?"

Chuckling, pale skinned teen replied, "No, I don't, but I suppose they could be considered 'freaking' tiny. This book is rather large."

"Rather large?! More like 'History of Planet: Tiny Word Special!'" he pressed, poking the book in emphasis. "I mean, how the hell do you even keep interest?!"

"Well… it is an amazing tale between a god, prince, and queen. The prince chooses the most beautiful woman in the world, at a price, the beautiful woman, being a queen, falls instantly in love, and her King becomes overwhelmed with anger, starting the Trojan War, this is the third time I've read it."

Demyx blinked. Twice. Three times. "You seriously have that much stamina? It looks huge, and boring, boring as hell." he groaned, simply at the thought of reading it.

"Most would, but I find knowledge a defense. The more you have, the better prepared you are for war… or your future, I suppose. Don't you think?"

"No."

"…"

"…"

"I think," Demyx started, his voice popping up an octave, "That we should all be treated as equals."

"…What does that have to do with my statement?" the teen inquired, glancing at the watch on his wrist and rising from the bench.

"Nothing." Demyx answered easily standing as well. "I guess I don't think anything." he grinned. Grin then turning to an appalled expression.

"…Hm?" The opposite teen question, eyeing the teen warily.

"Dude.. You're like… really… really…"

"What? What am I?" the teen asked, raising an eyebrow.

"…Short."

Eyebrow twitching a bit and scowling, said really, really short teenager spun on his heel and stomped into the school, just as the bell rang.

Chuckling, the blonde began his journey into the school before stopping dead in his tracks, mentally palming himself. Others dodged him in the crowd heading into the school, giving him weird looks.

'I forgot to ask for his name. Crap, why do I recognize him?!' Sighing, Demyx continued his way into the hell-hole known as the educational system, to go learn from it's… manifestation.

____________6/9____________

Demyx made is way to his fifth period, Chemistry, struggling to keep coherent thought over the overwhelming need of sleep. He decided, right then and there, waking up early was a demon, sent from his own, personal hell. Stumbling blindly through the halls, yawning. Finally, not a minute too soon, he came to his destination, and quickly made his way to his desk. Finally, sleep!

"Class!" announced a deep voice, laced with a slight Australian accent. Voice was quickly followed by a tan, muscular man making his entrance into the classroom. His black hair was tied in neat- if they ever could actually be called that, Demyx wondered- dread-locks, and the hair grew down his face, shaved into unusual, albeit impressive, side-burns. "You should know by now, considering this routine happens at least seven times a day, that you should all be in your seats before I am present, understood?" Silence. "Delinquents." Professor Xaldin sighed under his breath, writing the beginnings of large words in Expo marker that Demyx feared.

Demyx -not paying attention, head tucked underneath both hands, trying to drown out words- got whiplash, his head shooting up faster then he probably would have preferred at the sentence as the words fell from his teacher's mouth., once the phrase was written on the board.

"Partner Project."

Groaning, displeasure,

"You guys--"

Interaction, communication,

"--will work--"

Schedules, alternating houses,

"--in pairs--"

Color coating, images, and…

"--that I have chosen randomly." Bingo.

Someone Demyx didn't know and talk with on a regular basis, effort. "Dammit." he mumbled underneath his breath, cursing the school-system.

"I'll read off the pairs, then." Xaldin continued, when he was only met with irrelevant complaints and curses. "Now then..."

Demyx fazed out. _A Partner Project_? groaning he slammed his fist against the desk. _Please tell me this is some kind of sick, twisted joke._ he pleaded silently. _I'll never remember anything if I'm exhausted. Here's to hoping my partner is some kind of genius who'll do all the wo-_

"--and Demyx Ehime, Yuffie…"

Wait, what? Who? _Shit._

"Alright everyone, assignment? Not that you even care, choose an element. Any element. Give it's history, where it was discovered, and all that good stuff. If your five page report, centered, double-space, is clear enough, and the info is accurate, then I should be able to guess the element. Easy. In other words, fail, and you'll be in here, studying with me." _Nasty._ "Go talk it over."

Everyone rose from their seats, making their ways to their partners. Some high-fiving, others sluggish, some simply insulting each other straight to their faces. Demyx sat there, doing nothing, hoping his partner would make their way to him.

Which, damn them, they didn't.

Dodging some brown haired girl's butt, Demyx rose from his seat, and made is way up to the front. Rubbing at the spots he'd gotten elbowed at. Arm. Back. Side… Did someone just grab his ass?

Sliding further away, Demyx looked over the crowd- bless his parents genes, he was tall enough to see over their heads quite easily, when on tiptoe- hoping to see some other lost soul searching like him. Nope. He was alone.

He continued searching- straining his eyes this time, as he pressed further up on his tiptoes. "Demyx?"

"GAH!" he shouted, attracting the attention of the class for a moment, before the crowd decided they really didn't give a rat's ass.

"Demyx." the voice pressed. Quiet and fragile. Demyx glanced down, to see a pale haired blonde smiling up at him, a short blue-haired girl was holding her hand, blushing furiously. He recognized her to be Fuu. She was part of Seifer's gang, he remembered distantly.

"Namine… Um." he pointed at the girl's joined hands, said girl smiled a bit.

"It's a little easy to lose each other in the chaos right now." she shrugged it off. "But you look lost, weren't you listening? I know who your partner is, if you weren't."

Bless her, and her ears. "No, I wasn't." he chuckled a bit, smile slipping off his face as, out of peripheral vision, he noticed his professor give him a rather frigid glare. "Who?" he continued, forcing himself to turn away.

"Zexion Kuroki. The really quiet one." Demyx's confused expression remained securely in place. Sighing impatiently, the petite blonde snatched Demyx's hand as well and dragged him through the crowd of students disorganized in the small classroom.

They had become separated quite a few times, and often had to force themselves back through the chaos to save a member of the party. Most of the time it had been Fuu, and Namine would shriek and dive back in after her, often becoming lost herself.

Jeez, it was like there more kids in here then before. It was like a freakin' moshpit! It made Demyx feel extremely claustrophobic, and with kids sliding past left and right, the trip was awkward, and coming back through was even more awkward, when the students they'd passed moments before growled in discomfort. The trio, weaving through the angled rows of desks, eventually made it clear and safe through the expedition. A time of approximately ten minutes passing.

"Demyx, Zexion." the small blonde smiled up at the mullet-ed teen and then once again began the adventure. Fuu let out an exasperated sigh, and Demyx mouthed a quick sorry. Fuu fixed him with a glare dripping with murderous intent before disappearing, once again, in the crowd.

Sighing, Demyx spun around to examine his partner, and was shocked when his eyes rested on that exact person. "Oh." he simply said, as he looked down at the slate-haired teen, reading his book, the one he had seen no less then four hours ago. "OH! So that's where I knew you from!" he exclaimed, mentally doing a victory dance.

"I suppose." the other teen replied, not looking up. His soft voice barely audible over the pandemonium of the classroom.

"S-"

"Class dismissed!" Xaldin's Australian voice boomed, and the class responded in a chorus of excitement, almost booming right back at him.

The students surrounding the duo began to push, forcing the still standing Demyx to move, and pushed him away from the other teen, who was calmly placing his books into his messenger bag. Demyx was discarded like a shell in the sand at the doorway. Blinking, Demyx briefly wondered what the hell had just happened before turning to look for the partner he had discussed absolutely nothing relevant to the project with. When his eyes came to rest on the other's desk, the slate-haired boy had gone, leaving Demyx alone with Xaldin and a few other packing students.

Demyx made his way to his desk, a little weight off his shoulders now that he knew where the mysterious slate-haired teen had come from.

But then, remembering he had an essay which didn't yet have an announced due date, meaning you had to be finished as soon as possible, and it was five pages, and he had a partner he'd said more then a few sentences to.

Damn it. Damn it all to hell.

Sighing, Demyx picked up his bag and made his way to sixth period, Study Hall. He decided, on his way there, he had detention tomorrow, and as far as his knowledge went, Zexion would be there. He was the last two times.

So tomorrow, after detention.

Demyx would ask then. For now, he made his way through the halls, headphones placed securely over his ears. Singing quietly to himself in his sing-song voice.

"_That's what I go to school for,  
Even though it is a real bore,  
You can call me crazy,  
I know that she craves me,  
That's what I go to school for,  
Even though it is a real bore,  
Girlfriends I've had plenty,  
None like Miss Mackenzie,  
That's what I go to school for,  
That's what I go to school for_."

_I Never Am Quite There… Am I?_

_--_

Author's Note: I pretty happy with this, I think it was paced a little too fast, but then again, it's my first, very long (For me. XD;;;) fic so. READ AND REVIEW!


	2. Fine

Disclaimer: If they were my characters, they'd be in the same game, every game, not dead, and making out.

A/N: Hey guys! So, uh... Been awhile. Three months. I just had so much trouble with this chapter, and I HATE IT WITH A BURNING PASSION, and I know you will too. So please, just stick around, I would love some critique. In fact, I would CHERISH it. This chapter is 2000 words shorter then chapter one, and I'm just glad it's over. So read, and don't set your computer on fire if you do, *sigh* Chapter 2.

**Never Quite There Chapter 2**

* * *

"And?"

"Severely hoping I don't die, I suppose."

"Then, you should know I've always loved you."

"Shut up, Axel!" laughed the blonde-haired teen, shoving his friend off the sidewalk into the grass of someone's dying, yellow lawn. "God Xigbar, I mean JEEZ, call my mom?! Doesn't he trust me enough to tell her when I get detentions? TRUST a kid for once!" growled the blond, wiping his hand over his face to show his frustration.

"But Dude…. You DON'T show your Mom."

"But that's not the point! He doesn't trust me enough to believe my lies!"

Chuckling, the red-head simply gave up the argument; the blonde would never give up. Why try?

"So, I guess it's time to go home and play with Death." Demyx moaned, beginning to head of the separate sidewalk they'd come to, but yelped when he was pulled back sharply by the wrist.

"You. Sir, are NOT going home. For we? We are getting Chipotle, AND we are raiding Riku's barn. Yes-sir-ee~!" he grinned, keeping his grip on Demyx so he couldn't disagree, and reaching into his pocket, fumbling for his cell phone.

"Axel, we're not go-"

"SHH! Demyx, learn some manners, I'm on the phone." Axel muttered, smirking at Demyx's return scowl. Before Demyx could retaliate, "Riku-Poo!" Silence. "Yes, alright, well, we're having a mans' night tonight…. No, not like every Friday… Your house….. But!… I accept the terms and conditions… You still have a Wii and T.V. in there? Good." Through out the conversation, Demyx had made several escape attempts; finally Axel replaced his phone in his pocket and released Demyx's arm.

"Well?" Demyx questioned, massaging his blood deprived wrist. "What now?"

"Now? Now we go get Sora, Marluxia, and Roxas and we head to Riku's. Simple, and easy to remember. We are also taking _my_ car."

"Both our cars are at the school parking lot, and I still want Chipotle." Demyx insisted, walking ahead of the flame-haired other. "Plus, your red Camaro is just as cool as my black Ford Escape-

"DENIAL!" Axel accused, bursting in front of the blonde and blocking his path. "Come ON! Demyx, it's Wednesday! Middle of the week! We have to celebrate!"

"Celebrate something that happened last week too?"

"Shut up!" Axel shouted, running around Demyx and threw his arm over Demyx's shoulder, he then held his palm out in front of them and looked off into the distance; Demyx chuckled lightly. "Now, picture this, Demy-boy. T.V., Wii, Fireworks, Booooonfire, Boooooze!" Axel listed, slurring his O's with a feral grin on his face, he then released Demyx and spun around in front of him. " It'll be a night to remember Demyx! Whaddya say? Good time? Or early death?"

Sighing with a laugh, Demyx nodded quickly, which set off a flurry of 'Oh yeah's!' and 'Woo!'s, and before Demyx was aware of it, he was being pulled off in the direction of the school parking lot by his practically tearing arm.

____________6/9____________

When all teenagers were picked up and ready to head out, Demyx was feeling EXTREMELY claustrophobic. He had an unbuckled Sora hanging over his seat; clutching at his hair; shirt ect., in a giggle fit. Roxas was laughing too, but instead was distracting Axel who happened to be driving. The car was swerving left and right with the distractions of laughter and booming music and Demyx, at this point, was fearing for his life, despite the fact he was cracking up. Marluxia just sat in back with a stoic look on his face.

"You guys should really sit back, unless you're hoping we all crash and die." Marluxia drawled, twirling a lock of his unique, pale pink, shoulder length hair with his index finger. "Axel isn't exactly a good driver, you guys are only making matters worse."

"You're the meanest person ever, Marluxia," Sora whined, "Makes me want to do something that pleases you and see if you're smile brings about Armageddon."

Roxas agreed and poked Marluxia on the temple, prompting an "Oi!" and a flurry of giggles, shouts, mockings, pokes and slaps all the way to Riku's house. When they arrived the teenagers escaped the car and Axel made his way to the trunk of the gleaming red vehicle, popping the truck and removing a large, brown paper bag.

"Holy… what the hell happened to you Marluxia?" Riku questioned, shocked at the pink-haired man's tangled and knotted hair and wrinkled and stretched clothes as he opened his door.

"I don't want to talk about it. Leave me alone." he dismissed the conversation and walked right by Riku into his grand Victorian house.

"Um…. Come on in?"

The rest of the group filed in one by one into the silver-haired boy's residence leaving a dumbstruck Riku holding the door open.

"Riku? You okay?" Sora called, giving him a questionable look. "You're parents home or something?" Everyone looked up from whatever they happened to be doing.

"What the hell are we gonna eat? My house is empty." he groaned, slamming the door shut and making his way to Sora's side on the soft, white loveseat of his living room.

"I brought cheese puffs… cheese its… Doritos… yeah." Axel volunteered, counting off the snacks on his long, pale fingers, then motioning towards the large brown bag he had rested on the counter.

"Anything not cheesy?" Marluxia questioned, raising a perfectly trimmed eyebrow.

"Nope, nothing but puffs, its, and 'ritos.." Axel replied, smirking.

"You know I'm allergic to all of those things, Axel."

Knowing silence.

"You're such an ass."

____________6/9____________

The group leaned forth in anticipation as the man decked in gold was edged toward the deep, black trench. His face was wild with panic and rage. He had sweat on his brow as a man with a thick black beard threatened his life.

"Th- This is blasphemy!" he flailed, glaring at Leonidus. "This is madness!" he insisted once more. He backed up and his heel was half over the ledge.

"Madness?" Leonidus taunted, leaning forward. His face twisted into a snarl and shouted his allegiance. "THIS! IS! SPARTAAA!" he then picked up his foot, kicking the messenger of the Persians square in the chest, knocking him backwards to his death.

"HOLY CRAP!" Demyx shouted, eyes wide as the figure fell into nothingness. "Did he just…?"

"Oh yeah…" Axel nodded, bobbing his head up and down. "Riku, can you get some more popcorn?" Axel questioned, not looking back as Riku muttered a "sure" and rose from the bean bag he was plopped on.

"Wait Riku! I'll go with you!" Sora volunteered and rose as well from the bean bag next to Riku's. The two left the room as the Prophecies appeared on screen.

"Eugh." Axel supplied.

"Oh yeah." Roxas agreed, his eye twitching slightly. "Say, Axel," he quickly changed the subject from nasty lookin' oracles to school. "Who'd you get paired with for the Chemistry project?" Roxas inquired, glancing towards the redhead.

"What? Oh… Uh…. That big, dumb kid. Rai." he said, waving his hand in the air as he continued watching the screen. Sighing, Roxas turned to Demyx, "How about you Demyx?"

"Some kid named Zexion." he said non-chalantly, repeating Axel's hand gesture. "Marluxia?" he turned his head towards the pink-haired gardener who smirked at the question.

"Larxene." A collective gasp ripped through the room.

"The psycho bitch?!" Axel ripped his gaze from _300_ and settled it upon the teen in question's face. "Man oh man. Talk about Screwed with a capital S." he sympathized.

"Didn't she blow up the science lab just to get the teacher's attention and ask to go to the bathroom?" Demyx laughed weakly, he seriously had appreciated her psycho tactics that week- saved him from giving the oral report he'd forgotten to memorize.

"Yah, and didn't she cause that electric fire in Home Ec. 'cause she got bored? " Roxas also supplied.

"And kill the class pet in 7th grade?"

"And freeze the principal's parking space and make him crash into that tree?"

"And -"

"Alright!" Marluxia half-shouted, wiping his brow. "That's enough."

…

"We feel for you man." Demyx added, rubbing the back of his mullet. He obtained a new-found appreciation for his semi-known partner. Roxas nodded in a agreement.

"Oh come now," Marluxia chuckled. "She's not that bad. Funny, even. Feisty."

"Aww, eww!" Axel fake-heaved on the carpet, clutching his gut and falling sideways into the fetal position. "Eww eww eww eww eww." he repeated over and over again, attempting to erase the mental images that had just flown briefly through his tortured mind. "Get them ouuuut!" he whined, rubbing his temples. It wasn't long before Demyx joined him on the ground in the small play. Rolling on the lush carpet, and dirtying it with imaginary vomit.

"Shut up." Marluxia groaned, glaring daggers at Roxas who had dared to laugh. Roxas immediately fell silent. As the two recovered from they're fake vomit spree, the absence of Sora and Riku once again dawned on Axel.

"RIKU! I'm hungry!" he shouted, his voice echoing through the house. When no reply came, he repeated the shout. The silence continued. "Demyx, be a deary and fetch those two." Axel said, his voice dainty like a grandmother's.

"Why me?" Demyx rose an eyebrow, but kept his gaze on the screen, "They're about to kill things."

"Just do it, God knows I like watching things die more then you do."

Sighing, Demyx rose from Riku's bean bag -which he had relocated to after the silver haired teen had run off on Axel's quest- and trumped towards the kitchen. Weaving through several rooms, he eventually reached the stairs leading up from the basement and began to ascend them. "Riku!" he called. "Sora! You guys still there?" Opening the door at the top of the staircase, he entered the kitchen and abruptly slid to a stop as he watched Sora and Riku bolt to opposite sides of the room.

_Were they just….? They couldn't have been…. Is that really what…? ….. Oh._ Demyx processed and took in the scene before him, kitchen still and quiet.

"…Demyx!" Sora eventually shouted, startling Demyx out of his "What-just-happened!?" daze. "W-Why are you up here? We were j-just on our way down! You couldn't have waited a minute? Axel send you up here?" Sora's voice was shaking, and his brows were furrowed in anxiousness. Riku watched the affair with his arms crossed, his eyebrows furrowed slightly, noticeably. "Just head back downstairs," Sora continued. "A-and we'll be done- er, down, in a-"

"What did I just see?" Demyx asked, staring at Sora, who's fake-grin faltered and fell. The brunette placed his head in his hands, groaning several explicates and cursing the world.

"What did you see?" Riku spoke up, striding forward with an expectant look on his face. "What did you see, Demyx?"

"You tell me." he countered, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. The shouts from Axel's comments could vaguely be heard echoing off the walls, but otherwise all was quiet and tense. Finally, after a minute or so of silence, Riku released an exasperated sigh and gave a small, amused smirk.

"Guess the cat's out of the bag then, huh?" he took a large step towards the depressed Sora and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "We're dating." All traces of humor leaving his features, his expression became serious, and he gave his boyfriend a squeeze.

"Secretly." Sora said, his words muffled by his hands, which coaxed a chuckle out of Riku. Demyx was still taking the situation in.

"You've been friends longer then any of us… Are attached at the hip… I wonder why I didn't see this before…" Demyx said to himself more then anyone. He really didn't know what to think.

"So… now what?" Riku questioned, looking at Demyx skeptically. "You telling the others?"

Demyx looked up, meeting Riku's gaze, he noticed with a quick glance, Sora was looking at him hopefully, his wide, sapphire eyes shining with anticipation.

"It's not my place to," he said carefully. "Interfere with secrets that aren't mine. So… no." The couple breathed a sigh of relief, both with small smiles gracing their faces. "Does you're brother know, Sora?"

"No," he sighed. "Roxas doesn't." Demyx simply shrugged.

"Now then," Demyx said brightly, pushing the subject aside. "Did you guys make popcorn, or were you just too busy to bother?"

____________6/9____________

"Dang it, Axel! How do you always beat me with Peach?!" Roxas demanded, rising from his previous cross-legged position from the floor to glare down at the cocky, red-haired victor.

"Roxas, it's not the fact I beat you with Peach, you just suck at SSBB." Axel laughed, sipping from his beer. "I could probably kill you with a blindfold on."

"No way!" the spiky haired brunette protested, stomping his foot childishly, staring daggers at Demyx who'd begun to laugh.

"It's true Roxas," Marluxia snickered, "You suck at anything game-related."

"I kicked your ass on Guitar Hero!" Roxas insisted, making an air guitar to further emphasize this point.

"I was playing on expert, Roxas, and you were playing on beginner. Yet you still only managed to beat me by one hundred points"

"One hundred points that you didn't win with!"

"…"

"He has a point Marluxia." Axel digressed, raising an eyebrow.

"Bonfire time?" Demyx suggested, pulling a lighter out of his pocket, with a grin, and dismissing the conversation. Bonfires were something of a tradition among the group. "What do you think Riku?"

"I think we can manage." he answered, standing from his place on the couch and grinning as the teens surrounding the perimeter of the room cheered. Shutting off the Wii, grabbing the remaining bottles of whatever they were drinking, and leading the party outside, Sora, Riku, Demyx, Marluxia, Axel, and Roxas made their ways out into the chill, crisp night air. The more "relaxed" ones of the group applauding when the piled wood caught spark and spread into a warm, phosfluorescent, orange and yellow finale. The scene would make anyone feel ensconced.

The melancholy sound of crickets chirping and crackling wood set off a warm atmosphere as the teens settled down onto the logs set around the fire. The light breeze chilled the teens and made them shiver, blowing around loose strands of hair. Demyx stuffed his hands into his hoodie and ducked his head, shivering as his friends mirrored his actions.

"Wow," Roxas started, extending his index finger to the dark sky. "Look at that." When the others looked up, they immediately realized what Roxas meant. The dark sky was overflowing with twinkling points of light. The stars were shining bright and clear with the lack of clouds and the crescent moon cast a magnificent light across the grassy plain where everyone who was marveling at the sight sat. "Amazing, isn't it?" he grinned, his large, blue eyes reflecting his admiration.

"Definitely." Demyx added, smiling as a shooting star dashed across the night sky, shimmering magnificently. "You don't see something as amazing as this every night. Awesome…"

"Breathtaking." Sora contributed, leaning onto Riku's shoulder on the double log they shared. Riku chuckled a bit and in turn leaned his head onto Sora's.

Demyx closed his eyes and let the cool wind rush over his face, let the sound of crickets soothe him into a relaxed state and let nature take control. He let himself forget the detentions, forget the project, forget his mysterious, slate-haired partner, forget what he had found out about his friends, just… forget. Serenity and tranquility flooded him and his thoughts. He let time rush by and ended the night with twinkling stars and harmonious sounds.

____________6/9____________

It was past 12:00 AM when Demyx Ehime had finally shut the front door of his house quietly behind him. It was also past 12:00 AM when Demyx turned on the light to find his mother sitting on the seat in the corner, staring at him intently. (It was also past 12:00 AM when this practically gave Demyx a heart attack.)

"H-Hey mom." he said nervously, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "Why you up so late?"

"I could ask you the same question, Demyx." her glare was frigid and accusing; it sent shivers down her son's spine.

"I-"

"Where were you?" she asked flatly, face void of emotion.

"Riku's." he answered shortly, avoiding her gaze.

"Were his parents there?" Demyx shook his head, no. "Mhmm. Yet you were there anyway?" Nod. "I see. Also, I got a call from Professor Xigbar." Demyx winced, he'd forgotten all about that. At least Axel's mission had been a success. "Three detentions in a week?! Demyx! Look at me!" She shrieked. Demyx met her gaze, sad and full of effort. _This had always been dad's job_, he thought with a wince. "Demyx… go upstairs."

"…Am I grounded?" he asked hesitantly, backing away.

"Do you want to be?"

"No ma'am." Demyx hurried up the steps, replying to his mother's "Goodnight Demyx." with a "Goodnight Mom." and made his way to his room, dreading the thought of education to come.

____________6/9____________

Demyx groaned and rolled over as his alarm blared from his nightstand. It beeped, and when Demyx smashed it on it's top with his fist, he completely missed the snooze button and knocked the blasted thing over, toppling it onto the carpet where it _kept_ beeping.

Sighing, he rose from his bed, scowling at the clock, kicking and stopping it's annoying _beeping_. He made his way to the bathroom, turning on the shower water to what looked like would be fit for pulling him out of his groggy state..

He emerged from the bathroom twenty minutes later, donning faded blue jeans and a green t-shirt, brushed teeth and gelled hair. He rubbed his eyes with knuckles as he made his way down the stairs. Snack bar. Keys. He was out the door.

A mid-guitar solo blasted from the radio as he shot down the street to school. _Detention_. At least he could do his homework this way. He never HAD gotten it done…

He pulled into the parking lot, full of vacant parking spots. He scanned the small garden for signs of dull-blue hair and found nothing. _He must come later_. Shrugging he made his way inside the brown educational facility.

"Take a seat, punk." Xigbar droned from his seat, his feet propped up on the desktop, this time he held a Gameboy.

"What're you playing? " Demyx inquired, leaning over the side of the desk and peering at the small piece of technology.

"Objection." he mumbled.

"Phoenix Wright?"

"No. 'Objection' as in: sit 'ur ass down and stop talking." The professor snapped, motioning towards one of the desks with his hands.

Sighing, Demyx did as he was told. He made his way to the back of the classroom, taking a seat next to a pouting brunette with her head lying in crossed arms.

"Hey." Demyx greeted shortly. She mumbled a little greeting of sorts.

"Why're you here?" he asked quietly, pulling a folder out of his backpack and rummaging for a pencil.

"I was talking in class." she replied just as quietly, lifting her head.

"Lame." Demyx chuckled.

"Yeah," she sighed. Plopping her head back down into her entwined arms. "You?"

"Head butted a teacher. Accident, seriously." he said quickly. "I'm Demyx."

"Olette."

"Shut up!" Xigbar scolded from the front of the classroom.

Demyx only chuckled as the girl beside him let her head plunk down hard onto the bare wood of the desk.

____________6/9____________

"Zexion?" Demyx had been right, sure enough the teen was sitting on his usual bench, he held an umbrella with one hand while he read with the other, shielding him from the light drizzle that had started since Demyx had been inside dying. He pulled off his mp3 player headphones, stuffing the music player in his pocket to protect it from the rain.

"You seem to have a habit of coming here," the teen started, without looking up from his novel. "Is there a reason?"

For maybe ten seconds it was silent as Demyx worked through what Zexion had just said, then broke into a fit of splutters and indignant sounds. A light blush spread across his cheeks. "Wh-What are you accusing me of?!"

"Nothing. I simply asked why you've begun to show up so frequently." Zexion replied, voice bored. "What are you accusing me of, of accusing you of?"

His face flushed even darker, and he opened his mouth, but no words came out, instead he just stood there, feeling like an idiot. "Um…" he began, pulling the wet locks of blonde hair from his face. "Whatcha reading?" The quick change of subject obviously amused the other boy, as he chuckled lightly.

"You're getting wet." Zexion stated, brushing back his bangs slightly, which were grown out over his right eye.

Demyx blinked. "Oh, really?"

Zexion sighed and opened his book bag, he rummaged through it for a few minutes, cursing when he suddenly pulled back and hissed about a paper cut- at which Demyx laughed, much to the icy blue eyed teen's disapproval- until Zexion reemerged with a compact umbrella, tossing it at the soaked blonde. Demyx opened it quickly, sighing in relief when he was no longer mercilessly being attacked by raindrops. Demyx turned and took a seat on the bench,. Zexion returned to his reading. "Good book?" he inquired.

"Yes." …Alright then.

"So, about the project in Chemistry…?"

"Oh, yes." Zexion remarked, closing his book and placing it in his backpack. "I thought maybe we could use titanium."

"Alright." Demyx grinned, wincing as a small clap of thunder sounded in the distance. "What are we going to do to write it."

"Nothing." Demyx blinked, tilting his head to the side to signal his confusion.

"What?"

"I'll write it. You don't have to worry about it." Zexion said indifferently.

"Um…"

"Partners get in my way. I have an A+ in chemistry, the project is easy."

"Look, Zex," Demyx didn't miss Zexion as he narrowed his eyes, and he continued with a tiny smirk. "I'd kind of feel guilty letting some one else do all the work."

"Don't." Zexion said simply, flinching when Demyx grabbed his shoulder with a sigh.

"I would anyway. Please?" he flashed him a grin. Zexion brushed Demyx's hand off of him like it was the plague and mumbled a small fine.

"Do not touch me again, though."

"Fine. So what's the plan? Meet here after school, then library?" Demyx questioned brightly, beginning to pull out his mp3.

"Fine." Zexion repeated, sitting up from the bench, grabbing his bag and pointing at the umbrella Demyx was holding. "I'll need that back." Demyx colored slightly, mumbling a sorry and handing his umbrella to the slate-haired boy, shivering when water droplets once again began to slide down his skin.

Zexion sighed, and handed it back to the mulleted blonde. "Give it back sixth period." And made his way into the school. Demyx chuckled a bit.

"'kay." He placed his earphones over his ears, delving into a song by Nirvana as he headed inside after the teen. They walked in silence until they came to a fork, where they parted ways and headed to their respective lockers without a word.

* * *

A/N: Told you it was bad, didn't I? UGH. Review please~


	3. A Definite LazyAss

**Disclaimer: Is Kingdom Hearts MA rated? No? Then no. I don't own it.**

Author's Note: Hello all! How was _your_ last three months? Personally, I had plenty of time to work on this, I was just lacking some serious inspiration. I thought this fic was a total dead end, but I have an idea about where it's going now, so that's nice.

As always, this is dedicated to Pira The Sarcastic, this fic wouldn't exist without her insanity. Seriously guys, if you haven't check her out yet, do it. DO IT. NOW. Well... not now. Read the chapter first if you want. BUT CHECK HER OUT EVENTUALLY.

Also, huge thanks to Minikimii. Without her bananas and advice, this fic would surely have gone down the drain.

SO! Without further ado, coming in at 3906 words, I present, I'm Never Quite There, chapter three.

**I'm Never Quite There**

**Chapter 3**

* * *

Demyx ended up slacking off instead of heading straight to class. Axel had pounced on him, forcing him to listen all about the movie he'd watched when he'd gotten home. Naturally, Axel was exhausted, and he felt the blonde should know that. When he'd caught sight of Roxas, he'd veered off to annoy him, luckily.

Riku came next, bitching that Demyx got his ass grounded and therefore had to do whatever he wanted. Demyx simply disagreed, and that would have been the end of that if Sora hadn't raced over to ask if Demyx had told anyone the _secret oh my god please don't tell me you told someone the secret oh god Riku he told someone the secret didn't he oh my god!!?? _

It had taken at least five minutes to pry the kid off Demyx's arm and get him to ssssshhhhhhh. Next was convincing him that no, he did not and would not tell anyone and that the teen should stop worrying. That took _another_ five minutes.

Finally, Marluxia had dragged Demyx down to the garden so he could help him water something or other while he was off doing something else, leaving the annoyed teen to water petunias and dandefuckinlions.

All of these factors had lead to Demyx hiding out in the bathroom until first period was just about to start, so he would just _stop getting dragged into things_.

The bell rang just when Demyx ran in the room, panting. This coaxed a hard glare out of the still testy Mr. Luxord, but otherwise the teacher said nothing.

After that, the school day had raced by fairly quickly. Mrs. Gainsborough hadn't even yelled at him for being late to third period _again_. Demyx even had time to listen to a few songs by Say Anything in fifth and sixth period.

So, overall, Demyx had a pretty fair day.

The last bell rang faster then Demyx expected it would, and four o' clock found Demyx heading into the local library; earphones in their favorite place and backpack hanging loosely off his shoulder.

The library was a fairly deserted place, despite how comfortable it was. The building was filled with shelves upon shelves with books. The walls were a calm, creamy color; contrasting off the darker carpet nicely. The staff was friendly as long as you didn't set off a blow horn or something equally and annoyingly loud.

"_Yes kids, that includes your voice."_

It really didn't take long for him to locate Zexion, he was the only boy in the library with that _particular_ shade of blue hair. He was sitting at a table in the corner of the building, reading a new, really boring looking book.

The teen apparently heard him approaching because he placed his page marker in between two pages and set down his book, craning his neck to peer up at Demyx with steely blue eyes.

"Hello, Demyx." he muttered, pulling a much larger, even more boring looking book from his messenger bag. He threw it on the desk uneventfully, the book emitting a loud smack, then turned to face the taller man as Demyx sat down in the seat beside his own.

"Hola," Demyx threw his backpack onto the dark blue carpet. "What book was that?"

"To Kill A Mockingbird."

"…What?"

Zexion groaned, rubbing his temples. "…Seriously?"

"So… titanium." Demyx changed the subject, inwardly wondering why the other teen was reading a book about slaughtering birds.

"Titanium, in the elements section." Zexion said, flipping to a page in the big boring book and tracing a finger down the page until he seemed satisfied with where it stopped. "Titanium; A chemical element, symbol Ti. Atomic number 22, low density, silver coloring," he read. "Used in multiple daily life items such as cell phones, jewelry, sporting goods, and missiles…"

"Missiles? Is that considered usual?" the blonde peered down at the book, contemplating how such an item was considered "daily." "That's like… y'know, not exactly a usual occurrence. Unless you like, make things explode and die on a daily basis-"

"That doesn't matter, Demyx." Zexion sighed, continuing to read off several boring facts about the element. Subtly, Demyx popped in an earphone…

He really figured he should have been listening, considering he had to convince the boy to let him help on the project. Plus, at the end of the assignment, he didn't want to get pegged with 0% in the partner communication and participation category. He already had a C in the class, and getting a D would result in not-so-good things. Such not-so-good things may include grounding, being revoked of his "freedom to rock" pass, or castrated.

Those were some things Demyx would rather avoid.

Absent mindedly, he observed the bluenette as he read. His expression reflected boredom, but he seemed so entertained whilst reading Demyx was questioning whether the teen was really talking about chemistry at all. The teen was wearing a dark blue jacket; white and black graphics from some unreadable source printed across the front of it. His jeans were tight, and the cuffs of the pants were an inch or two short of his checkered vans, revealing the teen's ankles.

_I wonder how those would look hooked around my waist while I-_

Demyx pushed away the mental 'what the fuck?!', and changed the song from 'The Bad Touch,' to the next song in the shuffle.

Demyx almost gagged/laughed when 'Gay Bar' came on. Demyx flipped through his playlist, finally settling on 'My Evil Plan To Save The World' and looking back up to continue studying Zexion, only to be met with a disapproving, icy glare.

"Are you kidding?" Zexion rubbed his temples, fending off a headache. "Seriously? Is this a joke? If you convince me to work on a project with you, at least listen to what we're going to be doing."

Demyx laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly while pulling out his earphone. "Chemistry's boring, yanno?"

Zexion glared, staring the blonde down as he slowly shook his head, annoyance practically dripping off his every move.

The blonde pouted, placing his mp3 player back into his backpack. "So, what were you saying?"

Zexion turned back to the book, relocating his place. "I was saying…"

Demyx pretty much dozed off in the chair right there.

____________6/9____________

The next thing Demyx knew, he was on the ground with a big, heavy book on his face. When Demyx took the book off however, he immediately felt he would rather die by suffocation then see the irate expression the teen standing above him was wearing. Demyx shied back under the cover, wishing he still had his headphones on.

"You have to be joking." Zexion glared down at Demyx, looking ready to kill him if provoked.

"Uh…"

Provoking.

"Uhhh….."

More provoking.

"Um…"

"Stop babbling, idiot."

Provoked.

"What happened?" Demyx said with a wince as he avoided Zexion's hateful gaze.

Zexion snatched the book out of Demyx's hands, stuffing it into his messenger bag and hiking the carrier up onto his shoulder. "You fell out of the chair because you were sleeping."

Demyx stood, running a hand through his hair. "…Oops."

Biting glare.

"No, I mean… it's just… I'm tired, I guess. I'm tired and we're in a library, and you're telling me all about a boring subject, essentially story telling, while I'm in a comfy chair." Demyx explained, grabbing his own backpack. "If we went someplace, I dunno, with a little background noise, that might be easier to concentrate for me."

"With a distraction you'll work better?" Zexion repeated skeptically.

Demyx snorted, brushing back a strand of hair from his cerulean eye. "Yah, I guess."

"Tch, I'm leaving." the shorter teen scoffed, spinning on his heel and turning for the exit.

"Come on, Zexion!" Demyx shouted after him, ignoring the _sssshhhhh_ from a pinchy faced librarian standing nearby. "We'll never get this project done if we don't work together." Demyx ran up to the leaving teen, attempting to fall in pace with him. _Wow, this guy's fast…_

"I could," Zexion retorted, picking up the pace. "actually finish it much faster if only I worked on it."

"Zexion," Demyx said sharply, rounding in front of the shorter teen and halting his walk. "Come on."

A few moments of thoughtful silence passed as the two stared at each other, before Zexion sighed, running a hand through his bangs.

"…Fine then," the teen's shoulders slumped in defeat, and Demyx grinned. "We'll work at my house. It's only," Zexion paused to glance at his watch. "five, anyway."

"Alright, cool." Demyx nodded, moving out of Zexion's way so they could once again head to the exit, "Where do you live? I'll meet you there." Demyx asked, pulling his keys from his pocket.

"I don't have a car." Zexion shrugged.

Demyx blinked. "You don't have a car?"

Zexion nodded, brushing the bangs out of his face, only to have them fall right back into place.

_I wonder what his hair looks like soaked in sweat from fuc-_

"At least, not with me." Zexion continued, interrupting Demyx's what-the-fuck thought train.

"… Alright." the blonde said awkwardly.

"Are you okay?" Zexion asked, eyebrow raised. "You look a bit pale."

"Uh… yeah. I-I'm fine. We'll take my car; let's go." Demyx said a little too quickly. Turning on his heel, Demyx threw a "follow me" over his shoulder, leading the other, more confused teen to his Ford Escape.

____________6/9____________

After a few minutes of driving and directions, the two walked through Zexion's front door.

"Just put your bag on the floor." Zexion nodded to Demyx, walking around him to sit on the living room couch. The furniture squeaked as Demyx plopped himself next to the other boy. Zexion pulled out the textbook and a notebook.

"Meow~" Demyx blinked, looking down to see a bundle of fur rubbing itself against his pant leg. "Meow~" the fur repeated again. It bashed it's head against Demyx's pant leg, begging for attention. "Meow~!"

"You have a cat?" Demyx asked casually, bending to pet the creature. The cat's ears flattened against it's head as it purred. The feline had piercing cyan eyes, and shiny silver fur, it was a… unique looking cat.

Demyx noticed how long, sharp it's nails were, and made a mental note to never piss off the little guy.

Zexion nodded, staring at the animal fondly. "His name's Sephiroth."

"He's cute." Demyx laughed as Sephiroth's tail tickled his nose.

"We need this done as fast as possible," Zexion started, "So we need to map out exactly how we're going to do this." He flipped through his notebook, icy eyes searching the pages. The teen came to stop at a page titled "Chemistry Project" and handed it to Demyx as the blonde sat back up. "I thought we could use the five paragraph strategy. One; introduction. Two, three, four; Support and Details. Five; Conclusion. It's simple and effective."

"Sure," Demyx glanced at the notebook, barely paying attention. He began to inspect the house instead. It was a small house; quaint and modestly decorated. The walls were white, and in this particular room hung a framed picture showing a hundred different shaped and colored squares. The bookshelf on the other side of the room was lined with books, and the coffee table in between the couch and T.V. had several different magazines featuring science, beauty, sports and a few others Demyx really didn't care about.

The house was creepy quiet, making Demyx's fingers itch for his music.

"So, Zexion, are your parents home?" Demyx asked suddenly, interrupting Zexion's sentence (when had he started talking?).

"No. They work late." Zexion replied, vaguely irritated at Demyx's interruption. "As I was saying… what are you doing?"

Demyx looked up from the floor, his bum up in the air as he looked around under the couch. "I'm looking for the remote. It's too quiet in here."

Zexion shrugged, reaching over Demyx's backside to grab the remote from where it hid under a sports magazine on the coffee table. He handed it to Demyx as the teen stood from the floor. Soon MTV was playing, filling the house with some sort of rap.

The slate haired teen winced visibly, mumbling some sort of dislike under his breath and turning around on the couch to face the other again. Sephiroth hissed at the noise, skittering off into a different room. "Alright, as I was saying…"

____________6/9____________

"Demyx, stop playing with the channels."

About an hour of listening to Zexion talk about what would go into the essay left the blonde feeling completely bored out of his mind; he thought they really should have _started writing_ the essay an hour ago. In reality, Demyx had started watching Top 20 twenty minutes ago. Then Miley Cyrus started playing.

Demyx decided having to write an essay was enough torture, thank you very much.

"I'm not listening to a little girl sing about her nerve." the blonde replied, surfing the channels.

Zexion scoffed, snatching the remote from the taller teen and flipping back up to MTV.

"Maybe if something as bad as that is playing, you'll pay attention."

"_Weather predictions for tonight, we have thunderclouds rolling in, huge thunder clou-"_

"Hey, wait." Demyx piped up, pointing at the television. "Go back." Zexion shrugged, flipping back without argument.

"… _We have large thunderheads moving at speeds up to and over 65 mph, high winds and risk of flooding. People are advised to stay indoors from six to at least eight. We have conditions suitable tornadoes-"_

"Are you kidding?!" Demyx groaned, slumping in his seat. Sandy blonde mullet-ed head banging against the backrest,; Demyx asked himself why he lived in such a fucking rainy city.

"Are you …okay?" Zexion asked, confused as to why his guest was banging his head repeatedly against the backrest of his couch. He wasn't good at this kind of "Oh my god, are you okay?!" stuff, so he stayed in place, feeling awkward.

Demyx sighed, making his way around the couch. "I'd better get going. I really, really don't like rain."

Zexion chuckled a bit. "Right."

Demyx grabbed his book bag, waving to Zexion. "See ya." Zexion grunted something close to a goodbye, putting away his papers and books.

The blonde stepped outside, keys in hand.

____________6/9____________

Approximately five seconds after the boy left, a knock sounded on Zexion's door.

Said teen stood from the couch, making his way back to the door, asking himself who could have gotten here so fast after Demyx had just closed the door. Inwardly he wondered if Lex was dropping by, but then remembered he had lacrosse. A rumble of thunder shook the house, and Zexion snorted.

Approximately ten seconds after Zexion opened the door, Demyx was let back into the Kuroki household, dark blue and white t-shirt soaked and feeling absolutely frozen.

____________6/9____________

Demyx laughed sheepishly as Zexion handed him a mug with a laugh. "T-thanks." Demyx snuggled into his corner of the couch, clutching his hot chocolate in between his chilled fingers.

"Sure." Zexion flipped through the different channels, signal weak and making the shows appear static-ky. "Do you want to work on the proje-"

"No." It was said quickly, with an air of dominance. Zexion scoffed, muttering "lazy ass" loud enough under his breath for Demyx to hear.

"My my," Zexion mocked, sipping from his own hot chocolate stash. "Don't we have our priorities straight?"

Demyx jutted his lip out in a pout, giving him the impression of a sad, wet puppy. Zexion almost choked on his cocoa. "Oh ha ha. We've been working on the project for like, four hours." Demyx stretched his legs out on the couch. "We deserve a break."

_I could give you a break you'll never forget._

_Oh what the hell?!?! _Demyx mentally banged his head against the wall, trying to rid his mind of the images that began to pop up. Again and again and again and again-

"You slept for more then half of that." Zexion pointed out, interrupting Demyx's mental head abuse, and still chuckling softly at how _ridiculous_ Demyx looked. "We really haven't gotten anything done at all. If I were working on this myself, I'd probably be up until at least ten."

"But your not working by yourself, you're working on it with me." Demyx countered, taking another large gulp of his drink. "So we have time to slack off. Did I tell you these marshmallows are like, really, really good?"

Zexion mumbled something close to a "whatever" and continued looking through the barely-coming-in channels.

"You have any movies?" Demyx eventually asked, bored from looking at nothing but static for the last few minutes. "Face it, we're not going to find anything to watch."

The shorter of the teens sighed, grunted, and stood, walking over to a cabinet in the corner of the room. He opened the door to reveal stacks upon stacks of movies, and Demyx could have sworn he saw holy light shining down upon the case as he gawped at the thousands of movie names.

"…Duuuuude."

Zexion snorted, moving back to the couch and sipping again from his drink. "Take your pick."

"Yeeeeeeeees." Demyx closed in on the case, scanning the titles for something to watch. He paused briefly on Pirates of the Caribbean, but figured he had had more then enough water for the night. "How's Live Free, Die Hard?" he asked after a few minutes of contemplating the different movies.

"Why not?" Zexion said nonchalantly, settling back on a cushion of the couch. Outside, lightning flashed, briefly lighting up the otherwise dark room.

"How's the DVD player work?" Demyx asked as he approached said device.

"Press the green button."

"What green button?"

"The button that's the color green."

"… You don't have to be mean about it."

____________6/9____________

An hour into the movie, Demyx was much warmer and much dryer. The protagonist, some bald guy who liked to punch, was beating the crap out of some hot, Asian chick, and Demyx was really, really tired. Zexion was laying on the other side of the couch, looking like watching a girl get a BMW shoved up her ass _wasn't_ really, really cool.

The thunder kept rattling the house, rain pelting the windows like marbles. It wasn't showing signs of letting up, and Demyx doubted he'd be going home before eight thirty at least. Sighing and settling back, he finished off his third cup of cocoa and placed it on the table.

"Zexion, you awake?" Demyx quietly said into the dark, expecting no reply. He was slightly surprised when Zexion's voice hummed through the quiet.

"This movie's stupid." The teen mumbled sleepily, and Demyx chuckled.

"I really like it." Demyx added bubbily, ignoring Zexion's "idiots like explosions, it fits" and instead opting for his mp3 player and cell phone.

Placing his earphones on his head, he expected to hear some sort of song pour through the speakers, however all that came through was garbled static, and Demyx sighed. "Out of batteries." Flipping open the other device, he read "one new message" as it flashed across the screen.

_From Axel, 5:46 P.M:_

_Hey was up im at rox's house playing with his gerbils. sora says to tell you angeal and genesis are cuddling after a good round of humpage. sometimes that boy scares me. seriously. hbu? you at home?_

Demyx snorted, smiling at the thought of the twin's gerbils and ignoring Zexion's annoyed "Idiot." look. Genesis and Angeal were the cutest gerbils ever. Even if they were the faggiest furries ever, and preferred humping to eating.

Every hour, every day.

It was vaguely disturbing.

_To Axel, 7:12 P.M:_

_Hey im at that kid zexions house. were watching a movie and waiting for the rain to clear up so i can go home. r u still at soras? take a few pics of the gerbils, i miss them._

Demyx closed his phone, rubbing his eyes and trying to concentrate on the screen, failing miserably as his eyes began to droop closed again.

"Guh, I'm tired." Demyx complained, wiping a hand over his face.

"Mmm, that's nice." Zexion murmured, turning over onto his stomach. Demyx laughed quietly, jumping when his phone vibrated in between his fingers.

_From Axel, 7:14:_

_Yah im still here. im too lazy to take pictures though. sorry. why are you at sexions house?_

Demyx snorted inwardly. Sexion? What the hell.

_To Axel, 7:15:_

_We were working on that fuckin essay. lol sexion._

_From Axel, 7:17:_

_Oh lol sucks for u. me and rai havent even talked about it lol_

_To Axel, 7:18:_

_Well guess what. you will fail and me and sexion wont._

_From Axel, 7:20:_

_How are you supposed to pass if you dont even know it is supposed to be "sexion and I"?!?!_

_To Axel, 7:21:_

_Oh ha ha. moron._

Out of the corner of his eye, Demyx watched Sephiroth spring up onto the couch. Absentmindedly, he reached a hand out to stroke his silver grey fur.

What he grabbed was certainly soft.

It just wasn't a cat.

"… Demyx," A still sleepy Zexion asked, voice muffled by a pillow. "Why are you petting my ass?"

Said blonde froze, black painted hand still on the other teen's butt. Hand still in place, Demyx looked for the god damned cat, finding him atop the coffee table. Demyx swore the cat was _smirking_.

He was more of a dog person anyway.

"Demyx?" Zexion said again, voice slowly losing it's lethargic slur.

"Uh…"

"Your hand. Is still. On my _ass_." Zexion sat up on his elbows, narrowing his eyes at Demyx who _finally_ realized it was polite to remove hands from where they're groping when asked. Demyx pulled his hand away from Zexion's backside like it was burnt, face glowing a deep crimson.

"S-sorry, I was uh… reaching for your cat."

Blink.

"Seriously!!! You think I'd grab another guy's ass?!" Demyx shouted, face heated.

"You were reaching for my cat?" the other teen asked, voice flat. Demyx nodded fervently.

"Yah!"

"My cat who's not even in the _room_?" Zexion countered, rubbing the sleep from his eye. True enough, Sephiroth was nowhere to be seen.

Demyx was _really, really_ a dog person.

"… H-He _was_ in the room…" The blonde stuttered, feeling a heat rising up his neck. The other teen did not look convinced. Glancing back at the archway to supposedly the kitchen, Demyx couldn't hate a cat more as it almost _grinned_ like a Cheshire cat, trotting into the room.

"…Demyx." Zexion glared, feeling completely violated. Demyx, still blushing, scooted as far away as he could from the other body on the couch. The air in the room was tense and awkward, minutes later, and Demyx tried as hard as he could to not falter under Zexion's glare.

"Maybe I should go."

"Maybe you should." Demyx stood, feeling awkward as hell, and pulled his keys out of his pocket.

"We'll work on the project a later time." Zexion said, staring robotically at the television.

"… Yah."

____________6/9____________

When Demyx got in his car, he ran a cold hand through his wet hair. Shivering, he flipped open his phone which flashed "two new messages".

_From Axel, 7:22:_

_I know, I am soooo funny._

_From Axel, 7: 28:_

_Hey you there? what, did sexion try to make a move on you? lol_

_To Axel, 7:32:_

_No, but i think I made a move on him…_

Demyx groaned, pushing back an ugly thought as it surfaced in his mind.

_Damn, Sexion has a cute little bottom…_

* * *

A/N: Does anyone love that nickname as much as I do? I personally think it's really, really funny. (... Yes, my sense of humor can be considered retarded.) I'm feeling alot better with this chapter, BUT AS ALWAYS! I adore constructive criticism. PLEASE! Any advice, any at all! I seriously love advice reviews, but I love all my reviews. They make me grin like a fool. So! Please! REVIEW! It doesn't even have to be long! Just... let me know you like/dislike/lobster this story. The more reviews, the more I'll be inspired to write. No joke. Until the next installment~! Thanks for reading/reviewing/lobster!


	4. Snack Packs

**Disclaimer: **I own this just as much as I own a penis. Which I don't.

Author's Note: Oh man, I don't even know how many months it's been, but I'm sorry to anyone who even still reads this story. You rock. Forever and ever + one and a half. Woah. Impressive. Anyway, I started a **new story**, it's **AkuRoku**, and called **The Sweet Life. **It's all about **ice cream.** Yup, those are some pretty attractive words! I'd love you forever if you checked it out, left a review. I LOVE REVIEWS. And I'm totally whoring myself out for them but ashgasaks I love them. Please leave them. D| Alright, without further adu, the next chapter of INQT. Enjoy~

**I'm Never Quite There**

**Chapter 4**

* * *

"You never answered my text, Demyx."

Alright, okay, so admittedly Demyx had been expecting this conversation. His last text to Axel had been rather… shady. _"I think I made a move on Zexion."_ The blond would have confronted himself, too, when coupled with the fact he didn't answer the forty texts he got in reply. No, wait... forty one.

Really though, he wouldn't have busted a lung and ran across the entire school so that he could end up sweaty and panting at his locker.

"Uh?"

"You never," Pant. "answered," Pant. "my," Pant. "… oh god, I need some water…"

With a snort, Demyx struggled to recall the digits of his locker code. _One... One... One? Oh damn it… _"How'd you even know I was here? I just got in the building, and by the looks of it, you were in, what, algebra?"

Axel took a dry swallow, and glared at his friend. "Wood shop."

Roxas sidled up behind Axel in big, shiny sunglasses (Sora's, no doubt) just as the first bell rang, biting his lip and stifling laughter as he said, "Hey g-guys."

One slim eyebrow shot up his pale face as Axel opened one eye wider then the other and looked down at Roxas with a gaze similar to a bug. Or Vexen, one of the many asshat professors at their lovely hell sch- … high school. Yah.

"Axel… y-y… Pffft-"

"What, Roxas?"

With a slam of his locker, Demyx turned with a grin on his face. "Your _hair_, you goof."

"My… hair?"

"It's everywhere." Roxas snickered, gazing at the two through the shaded lenses.

The normally gravity defying spiky red tresses were scraggly and, like Roxas said, absolutely _everywhere_, making Demyx's friend appear like a… porcupine? Point was, it was freaking hilarious looking. So, with a sigh, the hair went up into the ponytail, and Roxas' face certainly did _not_ color as the shirt tightened around Axel's chest, framing his muscles and abs, as the arms went up.

Really.

"So, Demyx. You didn't answer my question." And there was the question the blond _so much_ wanted to avoid. "Text. Never answered. Douche-bag."

"It's nothing. I just sort of, kinda, accidentally… y'know. Grabbed his ass. " One, one, two…

"SEXION'S??"

"I was _aiming_ for his cat!"

"Um, excuse me?" a familiar quiet, polite voice broke through Axel's shouting, and Demyx cringed on instinct. How the hell did you greet someone you groped the day before? 'Oh hey, what's up? How's your ass?' "If you're referring to me, my name is _not Sex_ion."

"Way to look intelligent, Axel. Really," the shortest of the group stepped forward and smiled, nodding his head in Zexion's direction. "Hey Zex."

"Roxas." the boy nodded in return. The teen was today wearing a loose, thin grey T-shirt, Demyx noticed vaguely. Each time he'd seen the shorter before, he'd been wearing a hoodie. Also, he was just as lean as his ankles-

_Around my wais-_

-and wrists-

_Pinned above his hea-_

Had hinted. Jeez, the kid needed to eat a hamburger something, that lanky-

_Sexy-_

…bookworm.

_-_

"How are you?" Zexion asked politely, brushing back his bangs.

Luckily for Demyx, the greeting broke him of his (perverted) thoughts. It _also_ gave him a distraction topic. "Fine, I guess."

"You two know each other?" Demyx asked, suppressing a sigh of relief. Thank god, thank ROXAS for the save! Later, he decided he wouldn't even harass him about his big, goofy sunglasses. He looked like some sort of bleach blonde scene girl. Was he wearing eyeliner under them, too? Maybe he'd gotten a tramp stamp over night…

"Yah, Zexion's in advanced lit with me seventh period."

"Yes, now, if you could please excuse us," Demyx watched as Zexion smiled thinly at his friend and his other redheaded acquaintance; his stomach dropped into the soles of his shoes. "I have to talk to Demyx."

_Ohhhh no. Notgoodnotgoodnotgoodnotgood-_

"Yah, sure."

_Nononononono-_

"Let's go, Axel."

"_Roxas, no wait-" _Demyx pleaded with his eyes, watching with horror as Axel complained about how he never asked about the text.

The pair turning for their retreat…

"ROXAS-!!!" _Aaaaaand shit _was the only thought circulating through Demyx's mind at the moment, as his friends walked away.

So much for sighs of relief.

Roxas, consider your sunglasses thoroughly mocked.

… _Goofy glasses!!!_

Demyx turned, placing the biggest shit eating grin on his face he could manage, he back nervously into the locker he had yet to open; and it certainly would have been more believable, Zexion thought dryly, if he wasn't shaking and didn't look absolutely _terrified_.

"Are you okay, Demyx? You look a bit…" _Nervous? Horrified? _"… pale."

"Yah," the blond sighed, "Um, feeling down, I guess? Uh… About last night…?"

"Forget it." the teen said with a flick of his wrist, pulling out his textbook with his other hand. He glanced up at the other because of the rare moment of silence, just to make sure he was still paying attention (_he might have been listening to music, or had fallen asleep against his locker…) _and saw a look of the utmost confusion.

"… What?"

"Forget it? How often are you molested that you can say 'forget it'?" Demyx snorted, anxiously running a hand through his hair.

"Not so often that I was willing to kick you out of my house. Often enough," the shorter teen flipped open the book and pressed it against the locker as a make-shift desk, "that I'm willing to forget about it."

"Uh… creepy?" … Well what else was he supposed to say? Poor Demyx, stuck next to a kid groped enough to barely care.

… Wait…

What?

Zexion shrugged. "Sure."

The second bell rung as the book snapped shut. Zexion had showed a still very confused Demyx on what he planned to do, and what Demyx would get to do. (Mainly glitter the poster halfway to hell and back. Fuck yeah! Right up his alley!)

"We have a few minutes until first period, would you mind coming to the library with me for a second?" Zexion asked, shoving his book back into his messenger back. "I left my homework in there, and there are still a few things I need talk about with you."

"Why not?" the blond replied with a yawn, not like he was going to be first in the classroom anyway. Or last. Luxord always walked in after his first period, for dramatic effect Demyx supposed. "I don't have much else to do."

"Besides grope me?" Zexion smirked.

"I was aiming for your cat, dammit!"

* * *

"And for the left panel we'll put miscellaneous uses of titanium… does that sound good?" Zexion asked, idly blowing back the bangs from his face again, he flipped a page in his book.

"I think so." Demyx replied automatically, his hands laced and cradling the back of his head as the pair walked down the hall.

"What about the right panel?"

"I think so."

"… what?"

"… I'm sorry, what was the question?"

Demyx winced at the aggravated sigh that whistled past the other teen's lips. "I mean… Yah, what was the question?"

"Demyx." Zexion shook his head in aggravation, "Are you _sure_ you want to help? I mean-"

"Yes, yes I want to help! Last time I cheated on something like this, I almost failed Chemistry." The two turned into the media center, automatically hushed by Ms. Paine, aka Ms. Uptight-And-Unmarried-For-A-Good-Reason.

… Kids could be cruel.

"Teachers hold grudges, Zexion." the blond whispered, scanning shelves at random. Zexion rolled his eyes skyward, making his way up to the front.

"Not to offend, Demyx, but you're not exactly the most skilled when it comes to Science." He approached the desk and mumbled something to the librarian, who pulled out a folder and began rifling through it.

"Not to offend, Zexion, but you're really short." the musician snorted, plucking the paper that the librarian offered from her hand before Zexion could manage, and turning around.

"Hey-!!"

"Shh." Ms. Paine scolded.

Zexion glared at Demyx as they walked out, students rushing around them as they hustled to class. "Give that back."

"Admit I'm smart."

"Okay. You're smart. Give it back-" The bluenette hopped to try and reach it over Demyx's head, messenger bag bouncing against the side of his black jeans.

The blond singsonged a quick, "Mean it!"

Then promptly froze as Zexion jumped against his front, giving Dem a good feel of his abs.

He snatched the paper easily as Demyx's arm distractedly fell in shock, damn… Zexion was _ripped._

"Thank you," Zexion huffed, straightening his t-shirt and brushing back his curtain of bangs to more appropriately glare at the taller blond boy. "Now I've got to get to class. Sorry for keeping you?"

"I think so."

"… what?"

Demyx jumped to life, rubbing the back of his heated neck as he struggled to step back from the confused boy. "Y-yah. No problem."

"Alright, what are you doing at lunch?" Zexion recovered slightly, though he was still staring at Demyx cautiously. Demyx took a few deep breaths to steady his voice.

"N-nothing."

"Okay. We can meet in room 203, then?"

_To fu-_

_To scre-_

_To make you-_

_STOP!_

He managed to nod shakily. Zexion seemed content with his answer. "Alright, Lunch D, am I correct?" Another shaky nod. "Alright. Until then."

As Zexion walked away, Demyx wiped his brow and turned, started heading for Luxord's class while thinking to himself, against his will, that maybe Zexion didn't need a hamburger or something after all.

It felt like he had enough man meat for the entire class.

* * *

The lunch line was moving absolutely nowhere. He could bet it was stopped completely or something, because kids kept yelling for food and "What's the holdup?!" had rung in his ears at least five million, twenty nine thousand, four hundred twenty two, point five two times already.

And, okay, that might've been off by a bit.

TEN million, twenty nine thousand, four hundred twenty two, point five two times.

That was better. More approximate.

"WHAT'S THE HOLD UP?!" Demyx hollered, jumping up to look over the head of one six foot four Seifer Almasy. Demyx was six foot two, so it figured he got stuck behind the next tallest kid in school besides Axel, who was behind him.

"IS THERE LIKE A TRAFFIC PROBLEM?! Who crashed? Was it a Ferrari, I hope it was a Ferrari…"

"Demyx, will you shut up?" Axel grumbled behind him, looking over the crowd, "It wasn't a Ferrari, it was a hummer. A hummer and a hot pink punch buggy."

"… Wait, Rai raped Kairi?"

"No, Leon raped Cloud."

Demyx laughed, and punched his friend in the arm, "Seriously, what's going on?"

"Rai fell on Kairi, and there 's food all over the place. It's nasty." Axel hummed, peering over Demyx's head at the space ahead. Demyx sighed and tapped his foot against the cheap cafeteria linoleum.

"I'm gonna be late," he mumbled to himself, crossing his arms as his Converse wore a hole in the floor.

"Okay, I'll ask the obligatory 'where are you going' question. You ready for this? I hope you are, because here it comes," Axel took a deep breath, and put on his very best concentration. In every continent of every country, actors and film critics shook in anticipation as he prepared. The world was at a standstill.

"Where are you going?"

Around the world, cheers broke out, and Sanjaya girl bawled her eyes out like Axel was a singing angel, welcomed down from the heavens to announce that he was Jesus, and he liked his toast crispy, or world peace had rained down from the heavens, or like… he was the first fresh cut into a new piece of construction paper… point was, it was perfect, and yes, Axel _did_ give out autographs.

But only if you were cool.

So fuck off.

"I'm meeting Zexion in Ms. Gainsborough's room." Demyx answered, fighting back tears of joy. The line moved up a grand total of half a step, and behind him Axel groaned in annoyed exasperation.

"Ooooh here we go!"

Demyx blinked. "… What?"

"Here comes the law suit."

"What?!"

Axel sighed and wiped a hand through his hair, teasing the fire engine read spikes as he shook his head. He gave Demyx a steady gaze that clearly read '_oh my God are you dumb or something? This is extremely very obvious and you, sir, have the IQ of a piece of fruit, like a melon, or a pear, or something, the point is though you are very dumb and I have not the slightest clue has to why I hang out with you but I suppose I'll explain what I said despite this fact because I've been quiet much too long now and you look kind of sad."_

CLEARLY.

"Alright, so, you grabbed his ass, correct?"

Demyx shifted in place uncomfortably, "Yeah."

"That's sexual harassment, dude! He'll sue the pants off of you, and you're, like, poor. Geez, do you even have money for lunch?"

"Uh…"

Axel nodded, "Exactly. You'll be living in a box by the end of the week. Sucks for you, dude. Sucks for you."

Demyx laughed, "I've always wanted to be a professional hobo." Axel snorted and looked up over the line again.

"Yah, well, I'll visit you in your box. You better have wine in a paper bag though, it's the only reason I'm still friends with you. You're my future hobo friend with cheap booze." He shook his head, "Geez, Dem, this line isn't going anywhere at all. You're going to be late for your lawsuit."

"But fooooood-"

"Fine then, stay here. He's gonna be hot for your balls anyway, now that you've grabbed his ass." Demyx turned around, staring at Axel with something akin to horror.

_Oh what are you complaining about? That doesn't sound too bad…_

"Axel! That's sick!"

"Then stay here, Jesus Christ. Stop making me repeat things." The redhead finally just slapped his hand against his face, but quickly drew his face away. "Ow, Jesus, my tattoos still sting."

"Because you're still insane," Demyx snickered to himself, turning back around in line and attempting hop over Seifer's head to see again, to no avail. "Oh whatever," he sighed, stepping out of line.

"Where the hell are you going?"

"To steal food from Roxas!" Demyx hollered back over his shoulder as he stepped around tables of juniors and seniors alike.

Behind him Axel shrugged, "Don't steal the pudding cup! That's mine!" he yelled back.

"Holla!"

"Don't say that!"

Dem approached the table, where Roxas and Marluxia were sitting in an awkward silence, and took a seat beside the pinker of the two. The table was emptier than usual, he noted, and quieter. Obviously, the first thing he registered was the fact that, hey, his earphones weren't in! So, that explain why it was quiet, problem solved…

Buuut that didn't make up for the emptiness of the benches.

… Did his MP3 sit at the table?

He vaguely remembered stealing tater tots from it once… Oh no wait, that was Riku.

OH!

"Where's Riku and Sora?" he questioned, triumph in his voice, as he began rocking back in his cafeteria seat. Roxas shook his head and swirled his finger around and around in his bag of Fritos.

"I don't know," the blond sighed, goofy sunglasses partially blinding Demyx with the reflected sunlight spilling in from the cafeteria windows. "Sora said they had to go pick up a paper from Aerith after class, and that they'd meet us back here. But Sora hasn't showed up yet, and I'm kind of worried. I mean, Riku's with him, buuut… he's, yanno… Riku."

The sandier blond laughed and stole one of Marly's apple crisps.

"I bet you they got lost in the halls." the pink haired drama department leader mused, taking a bite out of an apple slice. "Fell in some sort of hall, landed in Wonderland. Met a red queen, got their heads chopped off."

"Marly, you've been getting way too into the play lately…"

Roxas ran a hand through his spiky blond tufts of hair, swirled all around his head but somehow still facing the left, when not… His hair, admittedly, was almost as cool as Demyx's. Almost. Now that he thought about it, their gang all had pretty cool hair…

Damn, he got off track a lot.

What was Roxas saying?

"--mean, they've been spending a lot of time together lately, yanno? And Sora barely ever talks to me, he can barely look me in the face. It's like he's mad at me, or not telling me something." Roxas looked up at the two, with a hint of desperation for some sort of understanding, "This isn't the Sora I know, Sora always tells me everything, I'm just worried is all. You guys understand?"

"Mhm, I suppose." Marluxia nodded, staring down at the table in what looked reminiscent to extreme thought.

Demyx blinked, biting his tongue. Oh God, that was awkward. He knew what was up with Sora… and his friend was emo-ing about not know aaaand… yeah, that was just awkward. "Yyyeahhh, well, uh, I'm meeting someone outside, who's, yanno, not wearing extremely large, ridiculous sunglasses-" Demyx said he was going to get revenge, didn't he? Mwahaha- "so I'll talk to you guys later, okay? Sorry 'bout Sora Rox, don't know what to tell you. Nope, not at all, heh heh heh…" he sat up from the bench and pulled his legs out from under the table.

"Bye," and he was quickly out of the cafeteria, leaving a confused, startled duo in his wake.

Axel sauntered back to the table quickly after Demyx left, and took his usual seat next to his best friend. "Hey guys, what's uuuuuuu… DEMYX, YOU ASS, YOU TOOK THE PUDDING CUP!"

Marly snorted and smirked down at the table, before he swiftly took a bite out of his apple slice.

"Holla."

* * *

Demyx blinked in surprise as he stepped out from the cafeteria double doors, Zexion was standing against the wall outside, reading. The fluorescent lights shined right through the teen's skin, making it seem paper thin. He wondered if it was windy inside the school, would Zexion blow away?

_I know something else that could blow him aw-_

_Don't!_, Demyx scolded mentally, walking up to the quietly reading boy who hadn't noticed him yet. "Hey, what's up?" he asked, peeling the plastic film of the top of Roxas' pudding cup. "Hey," The indigo haired teen looked up from his novel, to which the blond completely freaked out as the shorter of the two began unzipping his messenger bag. Oh shit, he _was _suing him! "Dude, um, before you like give me a subpoena you should know I'm like, poor. Like, really poor. I live in a cardboard box and drink cheap wine from a paper bag, and the government came and took my box away so…"

"Demyx," Zexion quirked an eyebrow, and stared at Demyx like the boy had completely lost his grip on reality in the time span of half a second, "What are you talking about?"

"Uh… nothing."

"I thought we were meeting in Ms. Gainsborough's room?" Demyx quickly covered up, and Zexion took the hint, and quickly dropped the conversation.

"Well, you were taking a bit long," he started instead, putting away the book into a random pocket in the black and blue messenger bag, which hung at his side. "I thought maybe it was because you were getting lunch, but…" he nodded at the snack pack, "I was wrong?"

Demyx blinked a colored bit, rubbing at the hairs on the back of his neck sheepishly. "Yeah, uh, I _was,_ but the line was really wrong because Cloud raped Leon," Zexion widened his eyes in complete surprise, and shock, "Oh, wait, no, Leon raped Cloud," …He seemed to mull that over, and decided apparently that was a more likely story, "So Axel told me to not eat Roxas' pudding cup, and I started talking to Rox, and Marly has apples… and, well, I'm not really sure where I'm going with this, but, point is I'm late."

Zexion blinked. "… Ah."

Demyx shrugged. "Yeah."

"And you still have Roxas' pudding cup anyway?"

"… I haven't eaten it."

"Yet?'

"Yet."

Zexion laughed and turned around, starting to head in the direction of the stairs. "Alright, well I asked Ms. Gainsborough if we could use her room to work on the project, and she agreed, we should be allowed in here every lunch period until the project is finished."

"You aren't afraid I'll grope you or something?" Demyx smiled, heading up the steps closely after his project partner.

"If I was," Zexion started on the second part of the stairwell, "I would have given you a subpoena."

"… Touché."

"So, Demyx," the two stepped off the last step and into the hall way, taking the required right on the little journey to Aerith's room. "Leon raped Cloud?"

"Well, not exactly. See, uh, Rai, you know him? Big buff guy, likes to say 'y'know?!'? Yeah, well he fell on Kairi, and Kairi spilled her food, and the line get held up because I guess there was a lot of it, so I just took Roxas' food." He licked at the top of the pudding to further his point. (He'd forgotten a spoon.)

"Pudding." Zexion corrected. "That… can't be food. That's nothing but fat and artificial flavoring." Demyx gaped, how the hell could some one not like pudding?! It was God's gift to Adam and Eve, or something, whatever he learned at church, right?! Go forth in the world, and eat delicious pudding, and make sure to bang that Eve chick so I can get some kids up in here?! THAT WAS STRAIGHT FROM GOD'S MOUTH!

… Or something!

"How can you not like pudding?" Demyx shook his head in bewilderment, "Seriously, something is wrong with you. If I could eat pudding for the rest of my life, I would be one happy guy."

Zexion shrugged and brushed away the curtain of hair from his face to appropriately smirk at Demyx, "You'd be one overweight guy."

"Eh, sacrifices. As long as I got pudding, I'd be fine."

"That… seems just like you," Zexion straightened his messenger back on his shoulder, and pulled it into a more comfortable position before turning to face Demyx again. "You also mentioned talking to Roxas?"

Demyx blinked a blushed a bit, Zexion seemed like an understanding guy, and he might not understand the significance of that part of the story if Demyx didn't mention something about the… ahem, secret he had on Riku and Sora.

… Then again, he could've been like that stout faced prick he met at church, the one who told him Adam and Eve HADN'T been given pudding by God and… oh, that justified Zexion a bit more about the whole fatty flavored chocolate thing.

Demyx shrugged, "Eh. Roxas is just paranoid about Sora for… some reason." Demyx could be vague?

"I don't mean to prod, but, may I ask what reason?" Or Zexion could outsmart him.

The two arrived at the door to Ms. Gainsborough's room. "Well, uh…" Shit, should he tell him? Demyx wasn't good at making things up on the spot, dang it! Clever bastard.

"Well…" He opened the door to the room, fully prepared to sit down and tell Zexion a long, intricate tale on the wonders of peanut butter and Sora's secret mission to recover the world's stock of jelly from evil master mind Xem-Ass, which was completely untrue but would effectively save his own ass from breaking the promise he made to his friends…

… Buuuuut there wasn't really any way to cover up two shirtless teenage boys making out on a teacher's desk.

His pudding fell from his hand and onto the cold, unforgiving floor, splattering and dying all over the tile.

…But hey, at least he found them.

…Woo!

"OH MY GOD!" Sora squealed and rolled off of Riku's lap and onto the floor, clutching his shirt and covering his nipples as he rolled around and around on the tile, gazing with pure horror at the open doorway like it was actually the extremely terrifying door to KINGDOM HEARTS, ready to take their hearts and throw them into **oblivion**, as unlikely as that was.

"WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING HERE DEMYX YOU SHOULD BE EATING LUNCH AND ENJOYING YOUR SNACKPACK AHAHAHA I'M NOT SHIRTLESS-"

Riku groaned and hung his head in his hands, "What the hell, are you stalking us, Demyx? Geez, we're not doing anything different! These are our usual places!"

Zexion blushed wildly (like he wasn't already colored like a raspberry) and sputtered a bit, stumbling back a step or two.

Demyx just kinda kept quiet, because if that wasn't the single most arousing thing ever, theeeeen he didn't know what was, as fucked up as that might have sounded.

_Holy shit, Zexion would look so good on my lap like that. _

"I, uh," the blond recovered slightly, "d-don't wanna hear about your, um, usual places, Riku. Seriously, that's really--

_Hot._

--gross. Ew."

"NOPE, NOOOO I AM NOT SHIRTLESS AT ALL THIS IS MY UH, NIPPLE SHIRT. IT LOOKS LIKE NIPPLES, AND I'M HOLDING RIKU'S SHIRT RIGHT NOW BECAUSE RIKU _IS_ SHIRTLESS BECAUSE HE'S RIKU AND HE'S SILLY-"

"It's not my fault you tend to find us whenever we're into it, geez." Riku muttered, looking more than a little aggravated that he'd just been cockblocked. Again. Jesus Christ.

"--LIKE THAT, YOU KNOW RIKU! HE'S ALL ABOUT THE NIPPLES. RIKU AND HIS NIPPLES, WHEN WILL HE EVER LEARN?"

Riku blinked. "Sora?"

"AHAHAHAHA!"

"Sora!"

"RIKU HAS SUCH SILLY NIPPLES!"

Zexion waltzed over kindly to where Sora was sitting upright on the tile, flipping out and laughing hysterically about nipples, and slapped him on the back of his head. The room fell quiet. Finally.

"…Feel better?"

Sora nodded, eyes open wide, like two crystal balls, ("_Or blue balls," _Riku thought petulantly, "_God dammit_.") "Yah, a little. Thanks, bro."

Zexion nodded patiently, "Anytime."

Demyx walked over to the nearest desk and sat down, followed shortly after by Zexion who took the desk next to him. "You do know," the slate haired teen started, "that there is a camera in each classroom, correct? Have you done anything to prevent the cameras from seeing you at all?"

Sora laughed and absently scratched the back of his head, "Yeah, that's actually where my real shirt went. I lied, I'm not wearing a nipple shirt. I left mine at home."

Demyx looked up at the camera in the corner of the room where, indeed, Sora's shirt had been thrown over it to prevent anything from being seen. Demyx had to admit, that was pretty clever.

_I'll keep that in mind._

"And I suspect Ms. Gainsborough has no knowledge that you two come in here, what I suspect is, regularly?" Zexion continued, keeping his voice steady. The color had receded from his face. The other two nodded. "well, Demyx and I are going to be in here at lunch for a while-"

Sora gasped, "To make out?!"

And Zexion's face was promptly raspberry flavored again. "What?! No!"

Demyx had trouble keeping from laughing, because A) Zexion totally had that coming, B) The thought he'd entertained after that was, despite pervy, actually quite acceptable, and C) Sora had the audacity to keep talking. Which was always freakin' hilarious. Demyx loved his friends.

"Because we could totally have a make out party! We could bring candles and stuff, and just make out! Heck, I could even bring music! Do you guys like The Faerie Bunch?! They're almost as awesome as Tifa and the Pussycats-!"

"Does he ever stop talking?" Zexion asked desperately. Riku and Demyx shook their heads amusedly.

"Nah, not unless you do this," Demyx leaned over the top of the desk to where Sora was on the tile, jabbering away excitedly about making out and such, and tugged on a strand of the brunet's hair, causing him to yelp and flinch back with his eyes watering. "See? Efficient." he snickered.

"Sora, they're not having a make out party with us," Riku poked Sora's cheek affectionately, "I guess they wanna do it alone,"

Zexion sputtered, "What?! No-!"

"Newbies."

The boy hung his head in his hands, and Demyx smiled good naturedly, "Oh my god." he groaned. "We're not here to make out-"

"Orgy?" Sora supplied.

… Demyx hated his friends.

Because that sounded _so hot right now. And God knew Zexion would say no._

"_Well…" Demyx blinked and looked up, holy crap, he was going through with it!_

"_No. Never."_

…"_Tease." Dem muttered under his breath, and the room broke out in laughs. Too bad that wasn't a joke. Not at all. Still, he laughed anyway, if only to convince himself he wasn't genuinely disappointed. Truly genuinely. Nope. Not at all. _

"_Well," Zexion stood, swinging his messenger bag back into a more snug fit on his right shoulder, "You two can, um, 'finish up' if you'd… like."_

"_Awesome!"_

"_We were going to anyway," Riku smirked, "whether you left or not."_

_Zexion gripped composure, "Ah…I, um, see. Well, I suppose we should leave, Demyx. You're secret-- this is a secret, correct?-- is safe with me. No matter how wrong. Remember, though, we'll be in here tomorrow." The teen began towards the entrance, followed by his blond project partner. "And we're not going to work with you two in here, so you will not be here, correct?"_

_Riku sneered, "You're cruel."_

_Zexion smirked. "I'm clever."_

_Demyx took a deep breath, "I'm out. I'll see you guys later. I'll see you in here at lunch, Zexion?" The slate haired teen nodded. "Alright, bye guys." And, true to his word, Demyx left quickly, and pulled his MP3 from his pocket to start for the closest bathroom._

_And if any one might have questioned him exactly why he wasn't up to his full talking standard back in the classroom, well, he'd challenge them to hold a conversation while they had a raging boner, too._


	5. Bicurious Boy Toy

**Disclaimer**: If I owned Kingdom Hearts XEMNAS would be MANSEX.

**Authors Note**: Life has been pretty sucky lately, so I've sort of dug myself into a little writing hole. This is where Chapter 5 was born. (Please ignore Sora/Roxas's last name. I made it when I first wrote this out. I might've been high. I like Chapter 4 much more than this chapter, considering nipples, but I think you guys will like this one, too. ... I hope. Haha.

Anyway, enjoy.

* * *

Sora Fluérce liked to believe he led a rather simple life. It was him, Sora, who liked bubbles, and candy, and enjoyed sitting in the grass and looking at the clouds and rainbows and things, and it was his brother, Roxas, who disliked horror movies but would watch them, enjoyed watching drunk chicks fall down on youtube because it was funny (and it admittedly was), and had a not-so-secret-but-not-yet-self-realized-crush-thing on his best friend Axel, and it was Riku, who liked keeping Sora's stupidity to a minimum (but who obviously thought it was endearing), enjoyed playing pool, and who had a secret homosexual love affair with his buddy Sora. It was rather simple. A sweet, simple life.

Until, yanno, Demyx walked in on said secret love affair.

And, yanno, until Demyx walked in AGAIN on said secret love affair.

Who, yanno, judging by the way he had busted through his door, threw himself on the floor and shouted "YOU'RE GAY, HELP ME," just might've been part of a secret homosexual love affair too. Which, really, wasn't _his_ life, but regardless effected him.

So, it'd been simple for _awhile_, if nothing else.

"W-wha…?"

Demyx got himself up from the carpet and sat himself on the bed, looking sheepishly at the ocean themed spread of Sora's room. Over in the corner, Angeal and Genesis were in for a good round of hamster humping, and he uncomfortably looked away, because _God_ that would be awesome if that were him and Ze-

"Okay. Uh… Look." he twisted in place to face Sora full on, biting a hole through his lip nervously. "How did you, like, know you liked Riku?"

Sora snorted and rocked back and forth on his butt, grinning and swaying with his hands around his ankles. "What? Does Demyx have a crush? Huuuuuh?"

"Sora, seriously." he mumbled, falling back on his bed. "I came to you because I just can't talk to Riku like I do with Axel, and I _can't_ talk to Axel because he practically had a hernia when he found out I grabbed Zexion's ass-"

"Wait what?"

"Later."

"Alright."

The blond fingered his iPod through his pocket and swung an earphone absent mindedly in his hand. He slid out of his backpack and put it on the ground, taking a minute to remember where he'd been in the story. (He could've asked Sora, but geez it was _Sora_, he'd probably already stopped paying attention.)

"_Anyway,_" he continued, "The next person I can talk to after Axel is Roxas, because, no offense, Roxas pays a bit more attention, you know?" Sora pouted but didn't comment, "But I can't talk to Roxas because I'm mad at him and his stupid ass sunglasses. Plus, you _are_ gay, so you have some experience." The brunet raised an eyebrow, and took his hands off his feet.

"What? Just because I'm dating Ri?" he asked, hands on his hips.

"No," Demyx deadpanned. "Because I saw you making _out_ with Ri."

"…I-"

"Twice."

"… Alright."

"Yah."

Sora moved back on the bed, and scratched his bird's nest of a hair-do. As he scooted, his blue t-shirt moved up on his abdomen, and Demyx noticed a dark bruise blooming on the flat smooth skin of his belly. It was in it's first stages of a bruise, blue and black in a mingled splotch of ink, spreading out like a fist print in memory foam. Demyx opened his mouth to ask about it, but Sora interrupted him, pulling his shirt back down.

"Okay, so, I think I get the general gist of what you're getting at, buddy." He smiled, twirling a finger in the air. "You like Marluxia."

Demyx blinked. "… What?"

"He's the only one of us you didn't mention!" Sora scoffed, explaining with his hands in a very Italian manner (even though he was, obviously, very not Italian. Fluérce was not an Italian name in the least bit.) and grinning excitedly like it was the most simple and extraordinary thing on the planet. "Plus, he's probably gay. I mean, he's in the gardening club for pete's sake, and he has pink hair. Really, I think you have a chance. If you just like, corner him-"

"Sora."

"-And tell him, he'll be all over you! Yellow and Pink, you know, you're hair. You'd be like a strawberry banana smoothie! Heck, you could probably use it during sex or something, I mean, me and Riku use chocolate and vanilla ice cream sometimes because my hair his brown and his is kind of white, but the color code thing is a lot of fun-"

"Sora!"

"What?!"

Demyx huffed and fell back against the bed, rubbing his eyes with his palms tiredly. "I don't like Marluxia." Sora sobered quickly and sat back down on his haunches (sometime in the middle of his big speech he'd risen onto his knees) then blinked, before muttering "Oh, that's embarrassing," quietly under his breath before jumping back headfirst into the conversation.

(Which kinda sucked, because Demyx was vaguely aroused at the idea of things to lick at during sex, and there wasn't exactly many food things that were blue and yellow, and simultaneously delicious together.)

… (Bananas and blueberries? Sea salt ice cream and paopu? Nail polish and lemon pledge? If Axel and Riku did it they could use strawberries and cream, the lucky bastards, and if Axel and Sora did it, strawberries and chocolate, and if Zexion, Riku, AND Axel did it they could use those patriotic rocket ship popsicles- )

"So?" Sora grinned cheekily and leaned forward, "Who is it?"

Dem shrugged and look back over in the corner to Angeal and Genesis who'd, interesting enough, changed positions. Hm. Demyx didn't know Hamsters could bend that way. Or that way. Or that.

"Dude, Sora, are you're hamsters porn stars? Because, man," he turned back to the shorter teen and grinned, quite obviously changing the subject. "I'm telling you this as a friend, you could make some serious money off these guys. Just look at Lindsay Lohan."

And, Demyx decided mentally, if there was a sound effects specialist stalking his life twenty four seven, he would have chosen a very silly, very appropriate "ZING!" to follow that joke.

Sora offered Demyx a quick high five, before steering him back onto the conversation. "Seriously. Who is it, Dem?"

"No one! I just need to know how you found out you liked Riku. You know? So I can be positive whether I can change my Facebook orientation to flamboyant rainbow explosion or not. And no, I'm not serious. Facebook sucks balls."

"I'll find out sooner or later, yanno," Yeah, he probably would. Sora was sneaky like that. "Anyway, well, it was kinda a gradual thing. I mean, yah, I'm a horny teenage boy obviously. I had pervy thoughts and stuff," Ding. "And I was kind of always on my toes with him, in that awkward sweet kind of way," Ding. "I liked spending time with him for unexplainable reasons, like AFTER we finished reports and stuff, we'd still hang out, 'cuz I wanted to even though we weren't really friends yet," Ding. "Which may or may not had anything to do with the pervy thoughts," Ding. "And wet dreams." … Ding. And an one hundred percent free TMI thrown in.

"Ew, So. Too much information." The blond wrinkled his nose distastefully and sighed, a shudder crawling down his spine like a bolt of slimy lightening. The brunet flapped a wrist and ignored Demyx.

"When I really, really came to understand it, I'd already pretty much had a feeling that me and Kairi weren't working out as I'd hoped. She was ready to move on because she loved me and trusted me, and I was feeling kinda grossed out because even though, hey, I had a super pretty girlfriend who wanted me, I was getting hot and bothered by my best friend. But, I couldn't help it, and it went from there. I'm uh, not going to tell you the details of how I knew he liked me too," Sora giggled, "You'd, you know, probably explode or something. Remember how I told you about the ice cream?"

Demyx didn't have a girlfriend who wanted him, so that diagnostic was useless. But, still, he'd never had wet dreams about guys before. Zexion was his first. Also, he'd never had thoughts about girls like he did about the short indigo-haired bookworm. About his ankles, or hips, abdomen, face, skin, etcetera etcetera.

On the other hand, he still liked boobs. He enjoyed looking at them during class and stuff, when Rikku leaned forward a bit too much, or Yuna didn't wear a bra. Zexion didn't have boobs. And, even though he'd started dreaming about Zexion, that didn't mean his female dreams had stopped. Plus, he wasn't daydreaming about penis or anything. He was daydreaming about boobs, still.

"… I like boobs." Demyx tested on his tongue. Nope, it didn't feel foreign. It was actually kind of a funny word. "Boobs. Boooooooooobs."

The brunet had gone back to rocking back and forth, smiling goofily and observing the curious expression on Demyx's face as repeated over and over different ways of talking about boobs.

"Jugs, Elmer-Fudds, beach umbrellas, Scooby snacks, snake-eyes dice, yahoos, googles, double lattes, hooters, snow-whites, whoppers, pillows, knockers, honkers, traffic-stoppers, rutabagas, hummers, bowling pins, balloons, bazookas, zibba zabbas, Mario and Luigi, Lilo and Stitch, tits, breasts…"

Sora laughed. You forgot "Dingleboppers... And Doobleydoos."

Demyx groaned. The second he'd walked in Sora's room he'd known it was a bad idea, coming to a flamboyant, easily excited teenager that enjoyed the idea of make-out parties.

Very bad indeed.

The blond bit the inside of his cheek and pouted. "Sora, come on, man. This is kinda serious." Sora sighed and ran his hand through his hair again, his nervous habit or something.

"Do you like him?" he asked, voice still tinged playful, but mostly serious. Demyx blinked. That's why he was _there_. "Well. Then you're bicurious or something. I dunno. I mean, you don't have an issue with being rainbow-y or anything, right?"

"Not really. It still kinda grosses me out, but I don't have an issue with it." He replied, tapping his chin. Sora shrugged.

"Well. Then, I guess you're bicurious or something. I'm not exactly an expert, Dem. Congratulations, I guess?" The brunet said awkwardly, lean legs dangling off the side of his bed. "Or uh, if that's what you wanted."

Demyx shrugged and smiled, standing up and grabbing his backpack. The thought that he wasn't completely _OMFG RAINBOWS_ reassured him, especially with an "expert opinion" (despite that being the exact opposite of what Sora said) backing up the evidence that yes, indeed, Demyx was still aboard the testosterone train.

"Thanks, Sora. This was, interestingly and surprisingly helpful." he thanked. Sora chucked a pillow off his bed at him, making Demyx laugh and turn around as Sora grumbled, that _dammit_ just because he was bubbly, didn't mean he was stupid. Completely.

"Why don't you like, stay around and hang out for a bit?" Demyx scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"Wish I could, but yanno, I got homework-" the blond was halted mid sentence as Roxas strolled into the room, sunglasses absent, which gave Demyx a look at the huge, black and blue mark ringing his right eye. It was dark, and swollen, and made the guitarist think _holy shit_ just by looking at it. The blond's face was otherwise unmarked, the same warm tan color he glowed with at school smooth, except for a cut which Demyx figured the boy had covered up. His jaw hung slack as his friend moseyed in, completely calm like his face _wasn't_ showing the after affects of a fist to the eye.

"Hey Sora, listen, I-…" the boy fell silent, and blinked once, twice, before Demyx figured he'd grasped the fact that yes, another blond _was_ in the room, and no, that he wasn't dreaming or something. (Why Roxas would dream of Demyx in Sora's room, he'd never know, but he wasn't exactly thinking logically at that moment.)

"Holy fuck," the guitarist breathed, male instinct making him automatically grin-- it was primal instinct, in most men, gay or straight, to place pride over compassion. "Who'd you get in a fight with?!" Roxas ignored him and told Sora he'd talk with him later, before pulling his sunglasses from his pocket and pulling them on, scurrying out of the room without a second comment.

"What… the hell?" Demyx asked, worry following quickly after Roxas left. Sora looked on the verge of tears, and quickly ushered Demyx to just go, go, everything would be fine and don't worry about Roxas because he's fine and know what, it's late and you still have to do that homework and hey, you're only bicurious so go have a party or something but right now you have to go, okay bye.

In the time span of that conversation, Demyx was out the door before Sora was even finished talking. (He heard him finish his last sentence through the front door.) Either way, Demyx learned three things.

1. Roxas was in a fight.

2. He was only bicurious, and boobs were still pretty awesome.

And, most importantly, 3. For the twenty minute time span Demyx figured he'd been there, Angeal and Genesis had never stopped humping. And, unquestionably, Demyx Ehime was sort of aroused. Being bicurious was sort of awesome.

* * *

The next time Demyx saw Zexion, the next day, he was a in a good mood. It was Friday, for one. Two, his thoughts weren't weighing him down with guilt at all because, _hey_, he was bicurious. So thinking about how flexible Zexion looked, or how soft his lips looked, or his voice and how attractive it might sound in falsetto, or just the plain old fact that, hey, the guy was thin and probably not too heavy, so fucking him up against the bookshelf was an option didn't make him feel dirty, just kind of turned on.

And well, the next time Demyx saw Zexion he WAS in a good mood, because he'd been waiting a good fifteen minutes for the slate-haired pretty-boy and he'd consequently had a good fifteen minutes of R rated, full out, chocolate syrup and strawberry delight mind theatre, and time to mentally prepare himself for when the boy walked in. Inevitably, though, the second the teen entered the library-- lean, porcelain, cobalt eyes shining, and pink lips stretched into a pleasant smile-- Demyx's strength shattered.

Bicuriosity was nothing but a whore that made you feel good for a while but left you with a hollow dirty feeling. Goddammit.

"Hello, Demyx." Zexion took the seat across from the blond, placing his messenger bag on the table and pulling out his Chemistry book. "I wrote out the entire poster board last night, what would go on it, the exact information etcetera, etcetera and spell checked it then added more detail. I also have begun using some of my calligraphy to write on it, ball point pen, because computer typed then taped I suspect will be sloppy and grounds for points off." He reached into his bag and pulled out his laptop, tapping in his username and password fluent and practiced, before opening up his browser and sliding the laptop over to Demyx's side of the table. "You can go ahead and begin looking for images to cut out and decorate it with. I brought glitter in case you wanted it. Xaldin probably likes things shiny and DAMMIT Demyx, take your earphones out!"

The blond looked up distractedly, head still bobbing along to the song feeding in through his earphones. "All I gotta do is glitter it and stuff, right? I can do that." he hummed, eyes aimed towards the carpet. "Shock and awe is what I do best, so just hand me some glitter and I'll make it the Fourth of July on a piece of damn cardboard, Zexion. It's not that big a d- DUDE. OW." Zexion ripped the headphones from Demyx's ears by the connected cable hanging down near his chest, and pulled them into his pocket, dragging the blonds' mp3 along with it.

"Pay attention." he muttered, fingers flicking skillfully over a stack of papers he pulled from his accordion folder. It was at this point, the blond's mood plummeted from good to bummed, because his poor mp3 player was being suffocated in the teen's skinny jeans.

And.

The only way the blond had of distracting himself from his bicurious thoughts about the boy in chocolate sauce and whip cream and maybe a pair of handcuffs or two was gone.

So Demyx wasn't exactly happy anymore. Just left alone with his thoughts and kind hungry for the ice cream store next door to the public library. …Mmm…

"Jeez, Dem, you're STILL not paying attention?" Demyx blinked. "Just because," Zexion rubbed his temples, "You're staring at me doesn't automatically make me believe you heard one thing I said."

"… I was staring at you?" Zexion nodded, eyebrow raised and clearly unimpressed. "… Sorry about that." Demyx mumbled.

The teen surveyed Demyx quietly for a moment, eyebrows squeezing together lightly as the boy pondered him, or calculated him, whatever he was doing, and just _looked_ at the blond. The two stared at each other quietly. The two were complete opposites, weren't they? Demyx's hair was a sunny, sandy beach, and Zexion's was the same beach at night. Demyx was tanned from days at the T.G.I. Friday's dock, and Zexion was pale from an eternity of novel filled evenings. Before Zexion broke eye contact and looked down into his book, hair falling over his face as he proceeded to brush Demyx off. "It's fine. Just do your part."

And, Demyx didn't know if it was the bicuriosity or what that made him do it, but he smiled quietly and did his work.

Namely, enter "titanium" into google search.

Mission accomplished.

* * *

"You hungry?" Demyx asked as he stretched, cracking his stiff muscles from a good two hours of titanium then google search then titanium then google search etcetera etcetera on repeat. Zexion, who was doing the same, lifting his arms into the air and stretching his shoulders, lifting his shirt slightly to reveal a sliver of smooth pale skin underneath, and making Demyx divert his eyes to the carpet and blush, shrugged.

"I suppose. Hungry for what?" the teen inquired, packing up his things. The clock on the wall showed a quarter to six.

Demyx tapped his chin thoughtfully, humming, before simply shrugging his shoulders and picking up his things. "I dunno." The two began walking to the front door. The project was nearly finished. Demyx had found a good load of pictures to cut out and glue, and Zexion had written nearly everything in perfect, neat print onto the cardboard.

"What are you doing later?" Zexion asked, eyes aimed toward the door.

Demyx's heart picked up the pace, and he gulped. _You're bicurious, Demyx, goddamnit. Stop getting so excited, because you're _not _gay, you just bicurious. Answer him, and don't sound like a fruit cup._ Demyx tripped a bit and stumbled a few steps forward, landing himself a good three feet in front of the other teen, and instead of laughing it of, he played it off. Cuz' he was just that calm and collected.

"U-uh, w-w-why?" Calm and collected. "I mean like, yanno if by 'doing' I don't have a girlfriend or something to hang out with, so like, I mean, uh…" 100% calm and collected. "So, like…" Totally. The blond took a deep breath and turned around, worrying his eyebrows nervously because dammit he was a healthy, red-blooded BICURIOUS MALE, and he refused to get so worked up!

Zexion blinked. "Demyx?"

"Nothing." The teen exhaled. "It's Friday, and I meet up with the guys on Fridays at T.G.I. Fridays…"

"Oh. It's a pun." Zexion hummed. "That's cute." …_Cute._

"Yah, I guess." Demyx bit his lip and stuffed his hands into his pockets.

The two walked out into the parking lot, warm summer light shining down on them. Demyx headed for his car uncomfortably, shifting back and forth and he unlocked the door with his keys. Zexion, who was parked next door to the blond, shifted in his driver's seat to face the other through his window as he closed the door. "If you're still hungry, we can go get something to eat. We'll leave your car here, we won't go far." he asked quietly, almost hesitantly. Demyx's heart palpitated.

"I mean," Zexion continued, "unless you think eating now would spoil you for your friends later tonight. I wouldn't want that."

The blond wasn't sure if this crossed the bounds of bicuriosity. If spending leisurely time with the boy made him gay or anything because he was attracted to him. And didn't he have his own friends? Axel, Sora, Marluxia, Riku, Roxas, all of them? He didn't need more friends, he was just friendly, and kind of attracted to another boy.

Demyx shook his head and closed his car door again, moving around the side of the Ford Escape and making his way to Zexion's passenger side. He was thinking too much.

"No, it's fine." Demyx assured.

"Will you be late?"

"Probably, I mean. Axel'll probably be pissed, yanno. But they won't miss me. It's a risk I'm willing to take."

Zexion nodded. "Alright."

"Okay then," the blond shut his door, and turned, flashing Zexion a grin before reclining his chair, making himself at home in Zexion's tiny car. "Let's go."

* * *

Demyx looked up at the driver's seat from beneath the blond strands of hair that had strayed from his unique faux-hawk after a long day. Zexion's car was cozy. It was clean (muuuuch cleaner than Demyx's), and shiny. It still had that new car smell, and it was leather interior. Demyx could get used to leather interior.

Zexion pulled smoothly out of the parking lot and into the street, throwing Demyx into the side of the door as he turned. The blond snorted as his forehead collided with the plastic of the door and pulled his seat up, laughing.

"So, what kind of music do you listen to?" Demyx asked, leaning against the window. Zexion shrugged and paused at a light.

"Truthfully, I don't listen to much music."

Demyx's jaw dropped.

"What? Really?" he blinked, turning to face the slight, indigo eyed teen straight on. Zexion raised his eyebrow and nodded.

"I usually study or something. Not for fun, obviously, but I'd rather have a 4.0 GPA than a complete knowledge of," Zexion shrugged. "I'm not sure, some sort of band." Demyx's heart skidded to a stop, his brain stem freezing over to the point where he forgot to breathe, almost.

"You…" the blond said slowly, "Can't even… name a band?" Zexion snorted.

"Well, I can. Just not off the top of my head or anything. I mean," he checked his mirrors to see if he was clear, before turning again. "Lady Gaga, or um, Justin Timberlake. I don't listen to them because, obviously, if that's music I don't want anything to do with it." Zexion laughed, turning to look at Demyx at another red light.

"Jesus, Zexion, you're like a new born baby." Demyx grinned. "I can educate you in the ways of great music, holy hell." The blond smiled gleefully and whipped his iPod from his pocket, hands spinning around the dial as he glided through his play lists of choice.

Zexion chuckled nervously and pulled forward again, "Dem, it's fine, really." Demyx shook his head, much like a stubborn little kid who'd made up his mind, and continued to sift through his songs.

Zexion rolled his eyes and pulled into a parking lot, rolling into a parking spot. Demyx didn't look up as the teen exited the car, but continued to search his music.

He'd kept his head on pretty straight throughout the ride, Demyx thought to himself as he looked. No nasty thoughts, it was pretty nice. Hell, he hadn't noted one embarrassingly cheesy thought regarding his project partner at all, throughout the ride. The blond reclined his seat again, making himself comfortable in the little space of the car provided. (Seriously, it was a tiny ass car.)

Heck, the whole bicuriosity thing had been going pretty well, so far. Despite a few rocky points, Demyx was himself around Zexion. He didn't warm up to many people. He was outgoing, of course, and polite. But he wasn't buddy-buddy with a lot of people, really. That's why he had his trusty iPod. To dodge awkward conversation.

He hadn't really needed his iPod around Zexion lately. A course, when he got boring (which was basically whenever they worked) but Zexion had kept him entertained. Hell, he'd been given a choice between his everyday friends and what SHOULD have been an awkward little lunch thing with his lab partner. But it hadn't happened that way, not even with the complication with the whole bicurious thing.

It was nice.

The car door popped open and Zexion slid in, eying Demyx who was reclined, despite Demyx's nose still being buried in his music.

"Sit up," Zexion ordered, "You can't eat this lying down."

Demyx looked up to see possibly the most inconvenient, cock blocking invention ever known to man. The most undoubtedly teasing, delicious frozen dairy treat known to man.

Probably the ONE thing Demyx did not want in his presence while attempting to maintain self-control around Zexion.

Besides like, maybe a banana or something.

Or a penis.

… So much for nasty thoughts.

"S-s-s-so," Demyx stuttered as Zexion took his first lick of his cone, tongue curling wickedly, hell, almost mockingly, around the tip before slipping back in between the seams of his lips. The milky dessert stuck white around the pink of his lips, making him lick the sweet sticky substance away as he bobbed in for another lick.

"Um, about the music…"

Somewhere up there, the big ol' bicurious God either hated Demyx with all his heart, or just liked mocking him.

It was probably somewhere in the middle.

Demyx took a huge, dry swallow as his mouth ran dry, and diverted his eyes back to his iPod's screen. "So, um, do you like… music?"

* * *

"_Where the hell are you?" _

"Relax, jeez, I'm outside," Demyx used his available arm to maneuver the steering wheel and turn into the T.G.I. Friday's parking lot. "I'll be in in a second- … hello?" …"Jeez, douche-bag move, Axel. Hanging up…" he mumbled. He flicked his phone closed and pulled in a space close to the dock, eyes automatically flicking to the worn wood of the T.G.I. boardwalk. He'd barely gotten out of that car alive, escaping aroused and heavy breathing when he finally broke down and admitted he probably needed to be at the restaurant right that moment. RIGHT THEN. Causing Zexion, always punctual, to abandon his cone and drive Demyx back to the library, where the blond escaped to the sanctuary of his car with a promise of seeing him on Monday or something.

Anything.

As long as Zexion didn't look at the front of the blond's jeans. Oh God.

As he got out of his car and moved around to the gate leading to the outside tables, he dragged his fingers across the railing, feeling the splinters of shaggy wood pull at his fingertips, memories of his dad and himself gazing out at the sea flowing in, while looking for where Axel and all of them were seated.

The tide waves were lapping against the boards, the sound lost in the Friday night chatter of families sitting down to eat, as Demyx found Axel's bright red porcupine-head in back, aimed towards the table like he was brooding.

"Where've you been?!" Axel asked the second Demyx was in his chair, before he'd even scooted in or ordered the water the waitress asked him if he wanted.

"Uh--"

"Seriously?! Where the hell were you? You know we do this every Friday, dude! That's not cool to bail like that!"

Demyx blinked. "I was uh, with a friend. You know, doing friendly things. Why're you getting so worked up, dude?" Axel raised an eyebrow expectantly and jabbed an elbow at the empty seat next to him, Roxas' seat, which was empty.

"Sora said he didn't feel good." Axel mumbled, leaning backing his chair so it reclined against the railing. "Stomach virus or something…." Sora who was talking with Riku across the table nodded, grinning. Demyx thought back to the purple blue circle around Roxas eye, and looked at the two curiously. A stomach virus _and a black eye…?_

"_Throwing up everywhere. Not pretty." He smiled. Riku nodded, smiling smuggly._

"_Yeah," the uniquely silver haired teen agreed, lips tilting up snarkily. "Real sick. He had it coming though."_

_The table fell into an awkward sort of quiet._

_Marluxia, who was absentmindedly chewing on the stem of some colorful flower he undoubtedly plucked from his garden (it was bloomed beautifully, and Marluxia had some sort of magic with flowers, no matter how gay that sounded), the was one to ask, "What do you mean he 'had it coming'?"_

_Riku hid a smile beneath his words, emerald eyes looking off at the water. "You know, he hasn't been taking good care-"_

"_C'mon Ri, they get it. He's sick. Drop it," Sora laughed nervously, hands reaching out from under the table to his glass of water, gulping the water in huge gulking noises that sounded like some sort of extraterrestrial language, speaking it's own type of gibberish. (Alien gibberish, can you imagine?)_

_Axel quickly took attention bad with conclusive "Yeaaahhhh, so you get it. Rox isn't here, and you weren't here, so I was stuck with Flower Boy over there while you were off dillydallying with god-knows-who. Speaking of which, who?" The redhead grinned as he brought the conversation full circle. _

"_My lab partner. It was work." Demyx shrugged, thanking the waitress as she finally brought his drink. _

"_Nuh uh," Axel "nuh uh"-ed. "You said you were doing friendly things. Like what?" he prodded. Demyx rolled his eyes._

"_Drop it, dude. We were just hanging out." The blond reached his hand into his jean pocket out of habit but blinked as nothing but cotton reached his fingertips. He checked his other pocket, back pockets, but finally sat back and blinked._

"_Oh."_

_Axel raised his eyebrow. "What?"_

"_I… forgot my iPod in Zexion's car."_

_It should have been right there that Demyx Ehime realized that Zexion Kuroki had managed to break down every single important detail Demyx knew about himself; from his sexuality, to his friends, to his last and most precious, the sanctuary within his earphones._

_Had he realized that, maybe he wouldn't have cracked so absolute that next day. _


End file.
